THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR 


KATHARINE  PRESCOTT  WORMELEV 


LI  BR  ARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 

OK 


Received 
Accessions  No. 


Shelf  No. 


THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR 

WITH    THE 

AKMY    OF    THE    POTOMAC 


LETTERS 

FROM  THE  HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  SANITARY 

COMMISSION 
DURING  THE  PENINSULAR  CAMPAIGN  IN  VIRGINIA  IN  1862 


BY 


KATHARINE   PRESCOTT   WORMELEY 


BOSTON 

TICKNOR    AND     COMPANY 
211  Fremont  Street 

1889 


Copyright,  1888, 


BY    COMMANDEKY    OF   THE    STATE    OF    MASSACHUSETTS,  MILITARY 

OBDER  OF  THE  LOYAL  LEGION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


All  rights  reserved. 


JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE,  U.  S.  A. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PACK 

PREFATORY  NOTE 3 

The  Sanitary  Commission  :   what  it  was.     Aspect  of  the  War 

to  women 5 

Women's  Central  Relief  Association ;    other  associations  of 

women 6 

Dr.  Bellows' s  mission  to  Washington 7 

Powers  granted  to  Sanitary  Commission  by  President  Lincoln 

and  Secretary  of  War 8 

Work  of  Inspection ;  Vital  Statistics 9 

Mr.  Frederick  Law  Olmsted ;  Members  of  Sanitary  Commis 
sion  10 

Money  and  supplies  :  how  obtained 10 

Branches  of  Sanitary  Commission :   method  of  proceeding  .     .  11 

Mr.  Alfred  J.  Bloor 12 

First  relief  work  with  the  armies  in  the  field 12 

Peninsular  campaign,  1862.     Commission  applies  for  steamers  13 
Books  and  documents  relating  to  Sanitary  Commission  :  where 

to  be  found 13 

Hospital  Transport  Service  :  first  work 14 

Newport,    E,.    I.      Writer    joins   Hospital    Transport   Ser 
vice 16 

Headquarters  Sanitary  Commission :  steamer  "  Wilson  Small "  20 

Women  in  the  service  of  the  Commission 22 

Yorktown,  Va. :  the  old  and  the  new  history 23 

Wounded  of  the  Battle  of  Williamsburg 25 


vi  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Routine  of  work 26 

Steamer  "  Elm  City  "  goes  North  with  450  men 28 

Spirit  of  the  men :  their  pride  in  the  army ;  their  self-forget- 

fulness 30 

Steamer  "  Knickerbocker  "  fitted  up  by  two  young  ladies  .     .  31 

Devotion  of  the  young  men  of  the  Sanitary  Commission     .     .  33 

Rescue  of  a  hundred  men  at  Bigelow's  Landing 36 

Incalculable  amount  of  suffering  saved  by  Sanitary  Commission  44 

Steamship  "  S.  R.  Spaulding."    A  coincidence 45 

Off  Headquarters,  Army  of  the  Potomac,  White  House,  Va.     .  48 

General  Franklin.    The  White  House 49 

General  Fitz-John  Porter ;  General  Morell 53 

General  Seth  Williams,  Adjutant-General 54 

State  of  affairs  in  the  Hospital  Transport  Service       ....  55 

Rules  of  the  service ;  difficulties „     .     .     .     .  60 

Mr.  Frederick  Law  Olmsted 62 

Mr.  Frederick  N.  Knapp 64 

" Where 's  McDowell?" 68 

Kleptomania.    How  to  "  prophylac " 69 

Unselfishness  of  the  sick  and  wounded 72 

Death-rate  of  the  British  forces  in  the  Crimea 73 

Lessons  taught  by  that,  and  by  the  Sanitary  Commission   .     .  73 

A  night  excursion  in  search  of  fifty-six  men 74 

Dr.  Grymes's  lesson  of  calmness.    The  black  side  of  war  .    .  77 

A  busy  night ;  with  all  to  do  over  again 78 

"  Spaulding  "  sails.    Fever  proves  to  be  typhus,  or  spotted 

fever 81 

On  board  "  Knickerbocker ;"  Dr.  Draper 83 

Fitting  up  the  "Elm  City."    The  Shore  hospital      ....  84 
Civilian  doctors  and  surgical  cases.    Difficulties  of  the  Com 
mission       89 

Kind  of  supplies  most  needed 91 

"  Louisiana "  aground  with  200  sick  on  board ;  night  trip  to 

her    ,  92 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  vii 

PAGE 

Women's  Central  Relief  Association  asks  for  anecdotes  .  .  94 

Battle  of  Fair  Oaks  :  Commission  ready 95 

Conflicting  orders  ;  no  Medical  officer  on  the  ground  .  .  .  100 
Government  boats  not  ready.  Five  thousand  men  sent  down 

without  preparation 101 

The  Commission  throws  itself  in  and  does  all 102 

Our  tent :  the  comfort  of  it ;  difficulties  and  horrors  .  .  .  107 

None  but  the  unavoidable  miseries  of  war  on  Commission  boats  117 

An  excursion  party  from  Washington ;  false  sentiment .  .  .  118 

How  the  writer  came  to  write  so  many  letters 120 

Sanitary  Commission  supplies  :  how  used  ;  not  wasted  .  .  .  123 
Neglect  of  Medical  authorities  after  Fair  Oaks  not  likely  to 

occur  again 124 

Excellence  of  the  army  ration :  what  it  is 124 

Queer  people  :  quartermasters,  Zouaves,  women  with  a  mission  125 

Mr.  Knapp  breaks  down  with  typhoid  fever 127 

How  the  sick  and  wounded  came  down  from  the  front  .  .  .  129 

The  misery  of  carpet-bags 130 

Battle  of  Fair  Oaks,  otherwise  called  Seven  Pines  ....  132 

A  pleasure  excursion :  out  of  the  breath  of  hospitals  .  .  .  134 

The  dear  "  Small."  General  McClellan 137 

Stuart's  raid :  attack  on  train  of  sick  men ;  five  wounded  .  .  138 

The  "  Small "  turned  into  a  hospital.  Practical  tenderness  .  145 

More  "  Sabbath-breaking  picnickers  on  a  battle-field  "...  147 
Dr.  Henry  J.  Bigelow  arrives  on  a  mission  from  Secretary  of 

War 149 

Object  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  not  fully  understood  .  .  150 
Mrs.  Griffin's  health  fails.  Dr.  Grymes,  his  courage,  devotion, 

and  death 151 

Gifts  from  Newport,  R.  I.,  Boston  and  Walpole,  Mass.  .  .  152 

Feeling  of  the  Southern  soldiery  as  the  writer  found  it  ...  153 

Our  dear  tent.  System  of  the  routine  work 155 

Trip  to  Yorktown  to  see  "  St.  Mark."  Dr.  Draper,  wife,  and 

Mrs.  Strong 157 


viii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Medical-Inspector-General,  Colonel  Vollum,  appointed  at  Mr. 

Olmsted's  request 160 

Written  agreement,  by  which  Commission  takes  all  worst  cases  160 

General  Van  Vliet  has  a  secret,  but  will  not  tell  it    ....  162 
Dress  paramount  in  the  female  mind,  even  at  the  rear  of  an 

army 164 

One  week's  letters  missing.     The  Change  of  base      ....  166 
b~  en  hundred  thousand  rations  and  forage  already  up  the 

James  River 168 

Stores  and  munitions  all  safely  removed  from  White  House     .  169 

Great  credit  due  to  Colonel  Ingalls  and  Captain  Sawtelle    .     .  169 
"Wilson   Small"  the  last  boat  (except  Quartermaster's)  to 

leave  White  House 171 

Going  down  the  winding  river 172 

Mr.  Olmsted's  letter.    Robert  Ware ;  in  memoriam      .     .     .  173 

"  What  profit  lies  in  barren  faith  ?  "    Hampton  Roads      .     .  175 
"  Wilson  Small "  the  first  boat  (except  Quartermaster's)  to  go 

up  James  River 176 

Meets  the  army  :  Harrison's  Landing;  Battle  of  Malvern  Hill  177 

The  spirit  of  the  army ;  the  tenor  of  what  it  felt  and  said    .     .  178 
Dr.  Letterman,  the  new  Medical  Director  of  the  Army  of  the 

Potomac 181 

The  "  Monitor  "  such  a  tiny  thing.      Trip  to  Washington  on 

business 182 

Letter  from  Mayor  of  Newport.      Special  good  done  by  last 

gifts 184 

Contract  for  army  shirts 185 

Medical  Department  doing  well  by  wounded.      The  worst 

horror  of  war 187 

Meeting  of  President  Lincoln  and  General  McClellan  at  Har 
rison's  Lauding 189 

Commodore  John  Rodgers  and  the  "  Galena" 191 

Things  not  so  gloomy ;  tone  and  temper  of  the  army     .     .     .  192 

The  Shore  hospital :  influence  of  new  Medical  Director      .     .  193 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  ix 

PAGB 

Supplies  furnished  to  Army  of  Potomac  by  Sanitary  Commis 
sion  during  July  and  August 196 

Happy  relations  between  President  Lincoln  and  General 

McClellan 197 

Promotion  of  General  Van  Yliet,  Colonel  Ingalls,  and  Captain 

Sawtelle 198 

Captain  George  Rodgers:  visit  to  the  "Tioga,"  to  shell  out 

a  battery l./^ 

Danger  from  Rebel  batteries  :  Fort  Powhatan 200 

Hospital  Transport  Service  over :  Mr.  Olmsted  and  staff  return 

home 202 

Dr  H.  J.  Bigelow,  and  "the  horrors  on  board  the  'Wilson 

Small'" 203 

Once  more  conventional  and  duly  civilized 206 

Memories  of  two  sorts  left  behind  on  the  James  River  .    .     .     206 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAQB 

FREDERICK  LAW  OLMSTED Frontispiece 

FREDERICK  N.  KNAPP 64 

DR.  ROBERT  WARE  112 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR 


PREFATORY    NOTE. 


MILITARY  ORDER  OP  THE  LOYAL  LEGION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
COMMANDERY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 


TV  TOST  of  the  writings  relating  to  the  War  of  the 
•*•'•*•  Eebellion  have  been  confined  to  accounts  of 
battles,  or  to  adventures  so  closely  connected  with 
battles  as  to  seem  an  essential  part  of  the  conflict 
itself.  The  book  here  given  to  the  public  as  "The 
Other  Side  of  War"  touches  on  matters  almost  en 
tirely  outside  the  noise  and  smoke,  the  glory  and 
pomp,  of  military  operations.  Yet  it  presents  scenes 
so  intimately  related  to  the  army  that  they  seem  an 
essential  part  of  a  soldier's  experience. 

The  general  work  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  has 
been  fully  set  forth  in  histories  and  in  its  own  invalu 
able  papers  and  reports.  This  more  personal  record  of 
its  earlier  labors  tells  a  story  not  elsewhere  told,  of 
how  it  began,  and  under  what  circumstances  it  first 
carried  on  its  heroic  work.  As  such,  these  remem 
brances  of  the  HOSPITAL  TRANSPORT  SERVICE  are 


4  PREFATORY  NOTE. 

presented  by  the  Commandery  of  the  State  of  Mas 
sachusetts  of  the  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion 
of  the  United  States  to  its  Companions  as  a  portion 
of  its  contribution  to  the  history  of  those  eventful 
days,  and  in  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  loyalty 
and  devotion  of  those  men  and  women  whose  for 
titude  and  grace  have  given  to  the  Sanitary  Com 
mission  its  honored  place  in  the  story  of  the  great 
conflict. 

ARNOLD   A.   RAND, 
WILLIAM   P.   SHREVE, 
HENRY   STONE, 

Committee  on  Library. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  United  States  Sanitary  Commission  was  an 
organization  of  private  gentlemen  whose  voluntary 
and  unpaid  services  were  accepted  by  Government  at 
the  beginning  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  to  supply 
the  deficiencies  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
army. 

It  was  the  outgrowth  of  a  demand  made  by  the 
women  of  the  country ;  for  in  the  great  uprising 
nothing  was  more  marked  than  that  the  principle 
which  actuated  the  nation  was  shared  alike  by  men 
and  women.  As  the  men  mustered  for  the  battle-field, 
so  the  women  mustered  in  churches,  school-houses, 
and  parlors,  working  before  they  well  knew  at 
what  to  work,  and  calling  everywhere  for  instruction. 
What  were  they  to  make  ?  Where  were  they  to 
send  ?  The  busy  hands  went  on,  but  where  was  the 
work  to  go  ?  Some  supplied  regiments  with  articles 
that  were  practically  useless ;  others  sent  to  various 
points  on  suggestions  afterwards  shown  to  be  un 
trustworthy.  Little  circles  and  associations  of  women 
were  multiplying,  like  rings  in  the  water,  over  the 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

face  of  the  whole  country ;  but  they  were  all  in  need 
of  guidance  and  of  information,  and  they  felt  it. 
Time  and  the  Sanitary  Commission  were  to  show 
them  that  by  a  great  united  effort  their  work  was  to 
broaden  out  into  a  fundamental  good  to  the  whole 
army ;  that  lives  were  to  be  saved,  the  vital  force 
protected ;  and  that  women,  guided  by  the  wisdom 
of  men,  were  to  bear  no  small  part  in  helping  to 
maintain  the  efficiency  of  the  troops,  and  thus  to 
share  upon  the  field  itself  the  work  of  husbands  and 
brothers.1 

At  a  meeting  of  women  informally  called  in  New 
York,  April  25,  1861,  the  providential  idea  of  at 
tempting  to  organize  the  whole  benevolence  of  the 
women  of  the  country  into  a  general  and  central 
Association  ripened  into  a  plan,  and  took  shape  in  an 
appeal  addressed  to  the  women  of  New  York  and 
others  "  already  engaged  in  preparing  against  the 
time  of  wounds  and  sickness  in  the  army."  This  met 
with  such  an  answer  as  showed  the  deep-felt  need 
of  it ;  and  thus  began  the  "  Women's  Central  Relief 
Association"  in  New  York. 

1  The  earliest  of  these  Associations  of  women  were  formed  in  April, 
1861,  within  fifteen  days  after  the  President's  call  for  seventy-five 
thousand  men.  The  names  of  those  organized  in  April  that  have 
remained  on  public  record  (there  were  others)  are :  Soldiers'  Aid  So 
cieties  of  Cleveland,  Ohio ;  Bridgeport,  Conn.  ;  Charlestown  and 
Lowell,  Mass.  ;  Women's  Central  Relief  Association,  New  York  ; 
Women's  Aid  Society,  Newport,  R.  I. 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

But  still  the  need  of  instruction,  and  the  futility 
of  trying  to  carry  on  the  Association  without  better 
knowledge  of  the  work  to  be  done,  pressed  anxiously 
on  the  minds  of  its  members.  At  this  juncture  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Bellows  came  forward  with  the  sound  advice 
to  make  inquiry  from  the  only  safe  sources,  —  to  ascer 
tain  first  what  the  Government  was  prepared  to  do, 
and  would  do,  and  then  to  aid  it  by  working  with  it 
and  doing  what  it  could  not ;  in  short,  to  act  upon 
information  derived  from  the  Government  itself.  Ac 
companied  by  three  gentlemen,  afterwards  members 
of  the  Commission,  he  went  to  Washington,  where 
he  discovered,  in  that  moment  of  national  emergency 
and  inadequacy,  the  need  of  a  larger  machinery  and 
a  far  more  extensive  system  than  any  yet  contem 
plated  ;  and  thus,  under  difficulties  which  need  not 
be  stated  here,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  the  United 
States  Sanitary  Commission.  The  far-seeing  wisdom 
of  those  men  gained  on  that  day  for  suffering  hu 
manity  the  greatest  relief  ever,  perhaps,  effected  by 
any  one  organization. 

Their  success  was  the  result  of  the  forces  of  pa 
triotism  and  love  which  began  to  bear  with  strength 
upon  the  Government.  For  not  only  did  the  nation, 
in  its  merciful  and  patriotic  instincts,  need  the  Com 
mission  as  its  guide  and  means,  but  the  Government 
needed  the  Commission  to  protect  it  against  the 
vast  tide  of  home-feelings  and  the  ardor  of  a  people 


INTRODUCTION. 

pouring  down  upon  it  in  indiscriminate  benevolence, 
and  clogging  the  machinery,  already  too  limited, 
through  which  alone  a  real  good  to  the  soldier  could 
be  applied.  It  needed,  even  if  it  did  not  desire,  some 
thing  to  eke  out  and  supplement  the  existing  system. 
That  was  small  enough,  to  be  sure,  for  it  was  a  sys 
tem  made  for  a  few  thousand  men  suddenly  called  on 
to  provide  for  an  army  of  several  hundred  thousand  ; 
but  at  least  it  was  the  organized  nucleus  of  some 
thing  larger.  The  Commission  came  in,  with  pledges 
of  obedience,  to  supplement  and  aid  the  Medical  De 
partment  in  the  difficult  work  before  it. 

The  powers  granted  to  this  Commission  by  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  and  the  Secretary  of  War,  June  9, 1861, 
were  substantially  as  follows.  It  was  styled  "  A 
Commission  of  Inquiry  and  Advice  in  respect  to  the 
Sanitary  Interests  of  the  United  States  Forces  ;  "  it 
was  to  inquire  into  the  materiel  of  the  volunteer 
army,  to  inspect  recruits,  and  examine  the  working 
of  the  system  by  which  they  were  enlisted ;  it  was 
to  keep  itself  informed  as  to  the  sanitary  condition 
of  the  regiments,  their  camps,  sites,  drainage,  etc. ; 
as  to  the  means  of  preserving  and  restoring  the 
health  and  promoting  the  general  comfort  and  effi- 
ciencv  of  the  troops  ;  as  to  the  proper  provision  of 
cooks,  nurses,  and  hospitals ;  and  as  to  all  other 
subjects  of  a  like  nature.  On  the  information  thus 
acquired  it  was  to  base  such  suggestions  to  the 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

Medical  Bureau  and  the  War  Department  as  should 
bring  to  bear  upon  the  health,  comfort,  and  morale 
of  the  army  the  fullest  teachings  of  sanitary  science.1 
It  was  also  to  give  to  the  Medical  Department,  wher 
ever  that  unavoidably  failed,  such  supplementary  aid 
in  the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded  as  the  generosity 
of  the  people,  and  especially  the  efforts  of  the  women 
of  the  country,  might  enable  it  to  give. 

This  brief  Introduction  does  not  allow  space  for 
any  account  of  the  actual  work  of  the  Commission ; 
but  the  outline  of  its  duties  just  given  will  show  the 
reader  that  such  an  enterprise,  springing  up  in  the 
minds  of  private  gentlemen,  needed  a  vast  and  wise 
organization  to  make  it  equal  to  its  own  design. 
Fortunately  a  man  of  experience,  whose  name  is 
well  known  for  other  services  to  his  countrymen, 
was  at  hand.  The  organizing  genius  of  Mr.  Fred- 

1  During  the  first  two  years  of  the  War  (to  May,  1863),  eight  hun 
dred  and  seventy  regiments  in  camp  had  been  inspected,  and  four- 
teen  hundred  and  eighty-two  Reports  received,  together  with  a  vast 
array  of  hygienic  and  physiological  facts,  all  of  which  were  recorded 
and  tabulated  by  Mr.  E.  B.  Elliot  and  Mr.  T.  J.  O'Connell,  actua 
ries  of  the  Commission,  and  reported  upon,  in  a  treatise  of  lasting 
value  to  military  science  and  vital  statistics,  by  Dr.  B.  A.  Gould,  of 
Boston. 

Special  inspections  of  all  the  general  hospitals  in  the  country  were 
made  by  Dr.  Henry  G.  Clark,  of  Boston,  with  a  corps  of  sixty  assistants, 
and  reported  upon,  in  twenty-five  hundred  folio  pages,  to  the  Medical 
Committee  of  the  Commission,  —  Dr.  "W.  H.  Van  Buren,  Dr.  C.  R. 
Agnew,  Dr.  Wolcott  Gibbs.  These  and  all  other  records  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission  are  preserved  in  the  Astor  Library,  New  York. 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

erick  Law  Olmsted  made  the  Sanitary  Commission 
what  it  practically  became,  —  a  great  machine  run 
ning  side  by  side  with  the  Medical  Bureau  wherever 
the  armies  went ;  an  authorized  power  fitted  to  seek 
out  and  relieve  suffering  wherever  and  however  the 
Government  failed  in  doing  so ;  an  organized  system 
where  no  inefficiency  was  tolerated,  where  the  work 
was  thoroughly  and  conscientiously  done,  but  which, 
nevertheless,  was  so  wisely  controlled  that  it  not  only 
did  not  give  offence  to  the  Military  authorities,  but 
wrung  from  them  a  hearty  and  universal  approval.1 

An  enterprise  springing  from  the  hearts  of  the^eo- 
ple,  and  planting  itself  firmly  on  their  generosity,  was 
not  likely  to  fail  for  want  of  means.  During  its  exist 
ence  it  received  four  millions,  nine  hundred  and 
twenty-four  thousand,  four  hundred  and  eighty  dollars 
in  money  ($4,924,480.99),  and  the  value  of  fifteen 
millions  ($15,000,000)  in  supplies.  But  it  is  estimated 
that  $2,000,000  more  were  raised  by  its  Branches, 
which  they  expended  themselves,  and  which,  though 

1  Members  of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission  :  Henry  W. 
Bellows,  D.D.,  president ;  Alexander  Dallas  Bache,  LL.D.,  vice-presi 
dent  ;  George  T.  Strong,  treasurer  ;  Frederick  Law  Olmsted,  general 
secretary;  Professor  John  S.  Newberry,  Western  secretary  ;  Dr.  W.  H. 
Van  Buren;  Dr.  C.  E.  Agnew;  Dr.  Wolcott  Gibbs ;  Dr.  Elisha 
Harris  ;  Charles  J.  Stille  ;  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe ;  Bishop  Clark,  of  Rhode 
Island  ;  Horace  Binney  ;  Rev.  J.  H.  Heywood  ;  Hon.  Mark  Skinner  ; 
J.  Huntingdon  Wolcott;  EzraB.  M.  McCagg;  Fairman  Rogers;  Robert 
C.  Wood,  Surgeon  U.  S.  A.  ;  G.  W.  Cullum,  General  U.  S.  A.  ; 
Alexander  E.  Shiras,  General  U.  S.  A. 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

equally  serviceable  for  its  purposes,  never  carne  into 
its  treasury.1  The  supplies  and  the  proceeds  of  the 
great  "  Sanitary  Fairs  "  (amounting  to  12,736,868.84) 
came  chiefly  from  the  women  of  the  country,  and 
were  increased  in  value  by  the  labor  which  they  gave 
in  making  up  materials.  Branches  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission,  under  the  control  of  women,  were  estab 
lished  in  several  of  the  great  cities.  Each  Branch  had 
a  wide  district  from  which  it  derived  its  supplies  ; 
and  throughout  these  districts  were  "  Centres  of  Col 
lection  "  in  the  lesser  cities,  where,  from  every  town 
and  village,  the  supplies  flowed  in.  The  work  done  by 
the  gentlewomen  of  the  land  in  the  offices  and  store 
houses  of  the  Branch  Commissions  was  that  of  an 
immense  shipping  business.  The  cases  came  in  from 
every  part  of  their  district  of  supply ;  the  goods 
were  examined,  sorted,  and  stamped  "  U.  S.  Sanitary 
Commission."  Each  kind  of  every  article  was  then 
repacked  in  separate  cases,  which  were  closed  up, 
marked,  and  held  ready  on  demand  from  the  Central 
Office  in  Washington.  Once  a  week  an  account  of 
the  stock  in  hand  and  of  its  distribution  was  sent 

1  Probably  the  amount  was  much  greater.  On  a  tabulated  list  of 
donations  Rhode  Island  is  credited  with  $11,823.96.  But  the  writer 
received  from  the  city  of  Newport  (unsolicited),  in  money  and  sup 
plies,  rather  more  than  $20,000,  —  which  was  used  in  the  service  of  the 
Commission,  though  it  did  not  appear  on  its  records.  It  would  be 
nearer  the  truth  to  place  the  sum  given  by  the  people  to  the  people's 
army  through  the  Sanitary  Commission  at  twenty-five  million  of  dollars. 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

from  each  Branch  to  the  Central  Office,  and  the 
relief  agents  with  the  armies  who  had  received 
these  supplies  accounted  for  them  weekly  to  the  same 
office ;  so  that  a  knowledge  of  all  articles  in  the  pos 
session  of  the  Commission  and  of  their  distribution 
throughout  the  United  States,  was  available  at  any 
moment  to  the  central  head.  In  like  manner,  when 
pressing  needs  were  telegraphed  to  Washington  from 
distant  fields  of  action,  the  news  was  passed  on 
quickly  to  the  Branches,  through  them  to  their  num 
berless  Societies,  and  in  a  few  hours  the  women  of 
the  distant  towns  were  at  work  to  supply  them.  Mr. 
A.  J.  Bloor,  the  Assistant-Secretary  of  the  Commis 
sion  in  Washington,  bore  the  heavy  responsibility  of 
this  department. 

Thus  organized  almost  before  the  War  began,  the 
Sanitary  Commission  was  ready  to  meet  the  first 
call  for  the  relief  of  troops  in  active  service.  In  the 
West  at  Gauley  Bridge,  Fort  Donelson,  and  Pitts- 
burg  Landing;  in  the  South  at  New  Orleans,  New- 
Berne,  and  Beaufort ;  in  the  East  at  Ball's  Bluff  and 
Drainesville,  —  it  began  during  the  first  year  of  the 
War  its  great  work  in  the  field.  During  the  winter 
of  1861-62,  while  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  lay 
in  cantonments  around  Washington,  the  condition 
of  each  regiment  was  examined  by  the  inspectors 
of  the  Commission,  and  the  standard  of  health  and 
sanitary  practices  raised  by  their  advice  and  assist- 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

ance  given  courteously  to  the  regimental  officers,  and 
almost  as  courteously  received.1 

When  the  Peninsular  campaign  in  Virginia  opened, 
in  1862,  it  was  found  that  the  Medical  Department 
was  unable  to  meet  the  needs  of  an  army  actively 
employed  in  a  low,  swampy,  and  malarious  region. 
Seeing  this,  and  acting  with  the  consent  of  the  Medi 
cal  Bureau,  the  Sanitary  Commission  applied  to  the 
Secretary  of  War  for  the  use  of  some  large  steamers 
to  be  fitted  up  for  the  reception  and  conveyance  of 
the  sick  and  wounded.  The  Quartermaster-General 
at  once  ordered  as  many  as  could  carry  a  thousand 
men  to  be  detailed  to  the  Commission,  which,  on 
its  part,  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  Medical 
Bureau  to  take  charge  and  proper  care  of  at  least 
that  number  of  sick  and  wounded. 

The  first  vessel,  the  "  Daniel  Webster,"  was  as 
signed  to  the  Commission  April  25,  1862.  Mr. 
Olmsted  himself  took  charge  of  her.  A  hospital 
company  and  stores  were  immediately  embarked,  and 
she  reached  the  York  River  April  30,  being  refitted 

1  For  all  information  relating  to  the  Sanitary  Commission,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  following  sources  :  History  of  the  United 
States  Sanitary  Commission,  C.  J.  Stille  (pp.  553,  8vo,  Kurd  & 
Houghton,  1866);  United  States  Sanitary  Commission,  Henry  W. 
Bellows,  D.D.  (in  Johnson's  "Universal  Encyclopaedia");  United 
States  Sanitary  Commission,  K.  P.  Wormeley  (pp.  300,  12mo,  Little, 
Brown  &  Co.,  Boston,  1863)  ;  Archives  of  the  Sanitary  Commission, 
deposited  in  the  Astor  Library,  New  York. 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

as  a  hospital  on  the  voyage  down.  The  army  was 
then  before  Yorktown,  from  which  it  advanced  a 
few  days  later.  The  ship  was  ready  for  duty  on  her 
arrival ;  her  stores,  of  which  she  brought  a  large 
quantity  over  and  above  her  own  needs,  were  placed 
in  a  warehouse  ashore  (additional  supplies  coming 
down  in  tenders),  and  the  work  of  relieving  the  sick 
in  camp  and  hospital  at  once  began.  Meantime  the 
"  Daniel  Webster  "  shipped  two  hundred  and  fifty 
sick  men  and  carried  them  to  New  York,  part  of 
the  hospital  company  going  with  her,  and  part  re 
maining  behind  with  Mr.  Olmsted.  It  was  on  her 
second  voyage  from  New  York  to  Yorktown  that  the 
writer  of  the  following  letters  went  down  in  her, 
to  join  the  "  Hospital  Transport  Service." 

These  Letters  may  be  allowed,  after  this  brief 
Introduction,  to  tell  their  own  story.  It  is  proper 
to  say  that  they  are  published  exactly  as  they  were 
written.  If  they  have  any  merit,  it  is  only  so  far 
as  they  photograph  the  life  of  which  they  tell.  To 
touch  them  up  and  improve  them  as  a  picture  would 
destroy  this  merit,  if  it  exists.  Nothing  has  been 
omitted  except  a  few  details  having  no  reference  to 
the  work  in  hand :  about  that  work  nothing  was  found 
that  it  seemed  necessary  to  alter  or  suppress. 

K.  P.  W. 

NEWPORT,  R.  I.,  1888. 


,'^-AO^^ 

OP  THB 


M^wkifi^ 

<^^-;-"^i,XT'^r"^'::*'"""* 

THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR. 


NEWPORT,  R.  I.,  April  27,  1862. 

DEAR  A.,  —  I  am  thinking  of  going  to  York- 
town.  How  should  you  view  it?  The  Sanitary 
Commission  has  to-day  sent  off  from  Washing 
ton  a  large  steamship  to  be  fitted  up  as  a  hos 
pital  transport.  Mrs.  Griffin  has  gone  down  in 
her  with  Mr.  Olmsted,  and  by  his  request.  I 
have  great  confidence  in  her.  She  is  a  lady, 
whose  presence  is  guarantee  enough  that  I,  or 
any  other  woman,  may  go  there  with  propriety. 
She  is  very  efficient,  and  I  should  be  satisfied  in 
working  under  her.  In  short,  I  have  written 
to  her  to  send  for  me  if  they  want  me ;  the 
letter  went  yesterday.  I  suppose  this  will 
rather  startle  you.  But  why  should  it  not  be 
done  ?  My  work  here  is  closing.  Colonel  Yin- 
ton  (Quartermaster-General  in  New  York)  sends 
me  to-day  the  flannel  for  the  last  ten  thousand 


16  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

shirts  which  close  my  present  contract ;  I  have 
just  drained  the  community  dry  as  to  hospital 
supplies,  and  the  churches  have  lately  sent  in 
$1,800  (making  $5,500  which  I  have  received 
since  we  began  in  April,  1861).  A  drawing 
together  of  circumstances  seems  to  point  to 
this  thing,  and  I  enter  upon  it  as  if  it  were 
obviously  the  next  thing  to  be  done. 

I  have  said  nothing  about  it  to  any  one,  nor 
shall  I  till  I  hear  from  the  Commission.  You 
must  stand  by  me  if  the  plan  meets  with  dis 
approval  here. 

May  7. 

I  RECEIVED  a  telegram  from  Mrs.  Griffin  to 
day,  telling  me  that  the  "  Daniel  Webster " 
steamship  had  arrived  at  New  York  with 
the  first  load  of  sick  and  wounded,  and  that  if 
I  wish  to  join  the  Hospital  Transport  Service, 
I  must  be  in  New  York  to-morrow  morning. 
So  I  leave  to-night.  Have  telegraphed  you  to 
that  effect. 

U.  S.  FLOATING  HOSPITAL  "  DANIEL  WEBSTER," 
OFF  SHIP  POINT,  May  10. 

DEAR  FRIEND,  —  I  write  with  a  pencil,  because 
it  is  so  comfortable.  We  left  New  York  yes- 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  17 

terday  at  5  p.  M.,  and  came  down  the  bay 
through  wonderful  effects  of  evening  light  and 
shade  and  color.  We  stayed  on  deck  by 
moonlight  till  eleven  o'clock,  when  I  turned  in, 
to  sleep  all  night,  and  get  up  lazily  to  breakfast 
at  nine  this  morning.  Since  then  I  have  helped 
to  make  our  hospital-flag,  and  have  dreamed 
away  the  day,  lying  on  deck  in  the  sweet  air, 
where  I  could  see  the  bluest  sky  and  the  bluest 
water  (when  the  vessel  dipped),  and  nothing 
else.  Four  ladies  are  attached  to  the  ship,  — 
Mrs.  William  Preston  Griffin,  Mrs.  Trotter,1  Mrs. 
Blatchford,  and  I.  As  far  as  I  can  judge,  our 
duty  is  to  be  very  much  that  of  a  housekeeper. 
We  attend  to  the  beds,  the  linen,  the  clothing  of 
the  patients ;  we  have  a  pantry  and  store-room, 
and  are  required  to  do  all  the  cooking  for  the 
sick,  and  see  that  it  is  properly  distributed  ac 
cording  to  the  surgeons'  orders  ;  we  are  also  to 
have  a  general  superintendence  over  the  condi 
tion  of  the  wards  and  over  the  nurses,  who  are 
all  men.  What  else,  time  and  experience  will 
show,  I  suppose. 

I  am  inclined  to  like   the  surgeon-in-charge, 

1  Now  Mrs.  Charles  Henry  Parker,  of  Boston. 
2 


18  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

Dr.  Grymes,  very  much.  He  commands  here  ; 
the  captain,  named  Bletham,  —  a  truly  honest, 
kindly,  sailor-like  man,  —  being,  under  present 
circumstances,  only  second.  Dr.  Grymes  is 
suffering  from  consumption,  and  to-day  he  is 
hanging  about,  languid  and  nerveless ;  they  tell 
me  that  to-morrow  he  will  be  taut,  tireless, 
hawk-eyed,  and  the  spirit  of  an  emergency. 
There  are  eight  medical  students  on  board 
("  dressers "  they  are  called),  and  perhaps 
twenty  other  young  men,  ward-masters  and 
nurses,  —  all  volunteers.  The  Government  fur 
nishes  the  vessel,  and  the  rations  of  all  on  board. 
My  stateroom,  which  I  share  with  Mrs.  Griffin, 
is  on  deck ;  it  opens  directly  to  the  outer  air, 
and  has  a  large  window  and  ventilator. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  done  my  first 
work,  —  making  the  beds.  How  you  would 
have  laughed  to  see  me,  without  a  hoop, 
mounted  on  the  ledge  of  the  second  tier  of 
berths,  making  the  beds  on  the  third  tier ! 

OFF  YORKTOWN,  May  11. 

UP  at  five  o'clock  to  give  the  last  finishing 
touches  to  the  wards.  At  seven  called  to  break- 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  19 

fast,  and  found  Mr.  Olmsted  and  Mr.  Knapp 
on  board ;  McClellan  nine  miles  beyond  West 
Point.  We  are  to  get  sick  men  on  board  this 
afternoon,  and  sail  to-morrow,  —  unless  Mr. 
Olmsted  wants  us  to  go  elsewhere ;  Mrs.  Griffin 
and  I  have  volunteered  to  do  so. 

Last  evening,  as  we  entered  the  Chesapeake, 
we  saw  the  crimson  glow  of  a  great  fire  in  the 
direction  of  Fortress  Monroe  or  Norfolk ;  and 
this  morning  early  we  heard  the  dull,  heavy 
sound  of  an  explosion  or  brief  cannonading  in 
the  same  direction.  We  are  now  going  ashore 
to  look  at  Yorktown,  for  the  wards  are  all  in 
perfect  order,  and  the  men  can't  be  shipped  till 
evening.  The  press  of  work  here  is  overwhelm 
ing,  they  say.  I  am  writing  with  everybody 
about  me.  Surgeons  are  coming  off  to  us  in 
tugs  and  row-boats,  clamorous  for  brandy,  beef- 
stock,  lemons,  and  all  stimulating  and  support 
ing  things. 

Good-bye !  This  is  life.  It  is  by  mere  luck 
that  I  am  here,  for  Mrs.  Griffin  never  received 
my  letter,  and  only  heard  by  chance  that  I  had 
written  it. 


20  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

HEADQUARTERS  U.  S.  SANITARY  COMMISSION, 
STEAMER  "  WILSON  SMALL," 

OFF  YORKTOWN,  May  12. 

DEAR  A.,  — Transferred  to  this  boat.  Mr.  Olm- 
sted  came  on  board  at  twelve  o'clock  last  night 
and  ordered  Mrs.  Griffin  and  me  off  the  "Daniel 
Webster."  We  had  just  received,  stowed,  and 
fed  two  hundred  and  forty-five  men,  most  of 
them  very  ill  with  typhoid  fever.  The  ship 
sailed  at  eight  o'clock  this  morning,  and  will  be 
in  New  York  to-morrow  night.  Mrs.  Trotter 
went  back  in  charge  of  our  department,  and 
Mrs.  Bellows  (wife  of  the  president  of  the  San- 
nitary  Commission)  accompanied  her. 

The  "  Webster "  could  not  get  up  to  the 
wharf,  so  the  sick  men  were  brought  off  to  us 
in  tug-boats.  As  each  man  came  on  board 
(raised  from  one  vessel  and  lowered  to  the 
second  deck  of  ours  in  cradles),  he  was  regis 
tered  and  "  bunked."  In  my  ward,  as  each  man 
was  laid  in  his  berth,  I  gave  him  brandy  and 
water,  and  after  all  were  placed,  tea  and  bread 
and  butter,  if  they  could  take  it,  or  more  brandy 
or  beef -tea  if  they  were  sinking.  Of  course  it 
was  painful ;  but  there  was  so  much  to  be  done, 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR.  21 

and  done  quietly  and  quickly,  that  there  was 
no  time  to  be  conscious  of  pain.  But  fever 
patients  are  very  dreadful,  and  their  moans  dis 
tressing.  The  men  were  all  patient  and  grate 
ful.  Some  said,  "  You  don't  know  what  it  is 
to  me  to  see  you."  "  This  is  heaven,  after  what 
I  've  suffered."  "  To  think  of  a  woman  being 
here  to  help  me !  "  One  little  drummer-boy 
thought  he  was  going  to  die  instantly.  I  said  : 
"  Pooh !  you  '11  walk  off  the  ship  at  New 
York.  Take  your  tea."  He  was  quite  hurt 
that  I  could  ask  it ;  but  presently  I  found  he 
had  demolished  a  huge  slice  of  bread  and  but 
ter,  and  was  demanding  more.  Then  the  doc 
tors  made  their  rounds ;  and  after  that,  such 
as  were  in  a  condition  to  be  handled  were  put 
into  clean  hospital  clothing.  Some,  however, 
were  allowed  to  rest  until  morning. 

We  did  not  get  them  all  settled  and  the 
watches  set  till  1  A.  M  ;  after  which  Mrs.  Griffin 
and  I  packed  up,  to  leave  the  ship  at  daybreak. 
Oh  !  if  I  had  it  to  do  over  again,  I  'd  have 
an  organized  carpet-bag,  with  compartments 
for  everything  As  it  was,  all  was  poked  in 
and  stamped  upon. 


22  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

This  is  a  little  boat,  headquarters  of  the  San 
itary  Commission,  Mr.  Olmsted,  the  General 
Secretary,  in  charge  of  the  whole  transport  ser 
vice,  and  Mr.  Knapp,  his  second  in  command, 
living  on  board.  At  present  she  is  filled  in 
every  available  corner  by  severely  wounded  men 
brought  from  the  battle-field  of  Williamsburg, 
—  wounded  chiefly  in  the  legs  and  thighs.  To 
day  Mrs.  Griffin  and  I  are  supernumeraries,  the 
ladies  on  board  being  sufficient  for  all  purposes. 
They  are,  so  far  as  I  have  yet  ascertained,  Mrs. 
George  Strong,  wife  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  San 
itary  Commission,  Miss  Mary  Gardiner,  of  New 
York,  Mrs.  M.,  whose  husband  is  the  colonel  of 
a  regiment  in  the  advance,  a  tall,  symmetrical 
Miss  Whetten,1  and  a  pretty  little  creature,  half 
nun,  half  soubrette,  whose  name  I  don't  know. 
They  all  seem  easy  and  at  home  in  their  work, 
as  if  they  had  been  at  it  all  their  lives.  I  use 
my  eyes  and  learn,  and  have  taken  a  hand  here 
and  there  as  occasion  offered.  Terrible  things 
happened  yesterday.  Many  of  the  wounded  of 
the  Williamsburg  battle  were  found  lying  in  the 
woods  with  their  wounds  not  dressed,  and  they 

1  Now  Mrs.  Gamble,  of  Intervale,  N.  H. 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  23 

starving.  Mrs.  Strong  saw  them,  and  says  it 
was  like  going  over  a  battle-field. 

There  is  a  general  cry  throughout  the  female 
department  for  "  Georgy."  "  Where  is  Georgy  ?" 
"  Oh,  if  Georgy  were  here  !  "  "  Georgy  "  is  on 
board  a  hospital  boat  called  the  "Knicker 
bocker,"  which  appears  to  be  missing.  As  I  have 
nothing  to  do,  I  speculate  a  good  deal  as  to  who 
and  what  "  Georgy  "  may  be. 

Yesterday  we  went  all  over  Yorktown.  I 
sent  a  few  relics  to  Kalph  by  the  "  Daniel  Web 
ster,"  one  of  them  much  envied,  —  an  iron 
pulley  from  the  celebrated  gun  which  McClellan 
telegraphed  had  been  "impertinent  this  morn 
ing,"  and  which  afterwards  burst,  to  the  great 
relief  of  our  men.  It  is  amazing  that  Yorktown 
was  so  soon  evacuated.  Its  strength  seems  very 
great,  not  only  from  its  defences,  but  from  the 
lay  of  the  land,  —  range  after  range  of  hill  and 
ravine,  every  hill  commanding  the  plain  over 
which  our  army  had  to  creep  up,  and  which  was 
also  covered  by  the  water-batteries  at  Gloucester, 
until  the  gunboats  silenced  them.  We  went 
round  the  fortifications  and  saw  everything,  — 
the  siege-guns,  eighty  of  them ;  the  fine  log- 


24  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

houses  of  the  men ;  the  ten  thousand  abandoned 
tents,  many  of  which  were  still  standing. 
Guards  were  placed  about  the  magazines  ;  and 
at  various  points,  in  the  paths  or  by  the  way 
side,  we  came  upon  placards  marked  "Danger 
ous,"  as  a  warning  of  torpedoes.  I  saw  the 
fragments  of  a  flour-barrel  in  which  one  was 
buried,  killing  the  man  who  dipped  into  it ;  also 
a  walnut-tree  under  which  the  earth  was  torn 
up,  and  where  six  men  were  yesterday  blown  to 
fragments  by  somebody  stepping  on  the  fuse  of 
one.  We  saw  what  was  once  Lafayette's  head 
quarters,  —  now  supposed  to  be  a  prison,  where 
the  prisoners  seemed  to  be  very  little  guarded  or 
regarded ;  then  we  paid  a  visit  to  General  Van 
Alen,  commanding  the  post,  and  called  upon 
Miss  Dix  at  the  Hospital, — Lord  Cornwallis's 
headquarters  ;  the  best  house  in  the  place,  with 
a  wide-panelled  hall  and  staircase.  The  rooms 
above  were  crowded  with  wounded  men,  all  look 
ing  clean  and  comfortable.  It  is  wonderful  how 
in  the  midst  of  our  own  excitements  these  his 
torical  places  impressed  us,  and  it  was  hard 
enough  to  believe  that  the  confusion,  destruction, 
and  filth  about  us  were  making  a  new  history. 


THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  25 

We  did  all  this  in  three  hours  before  the  sick 
men  could  be  brought  off  to  the  "  Webster."  We 
shuffle  about  without  hoops;  Mrs.  Griffin  says 
it  is  de  rigueur  that  they  shall  not  be  worn  in 
hospital  service.  I  like  it  very  well  on  board 
ship :  it  is  becoming  to  Miss  Whetten,  who  is 
symmetry  itself ;  but  it  must  be  owned  that  some 
of  us  look  rather  mediaeval.  I  have  no  idea 
what  we  are  to  do,  and  I  ask  no  questions.  Mr. 
Olmsted  is  the  law-giver ;  he  knows  the  fact 
of  my  existence,  and  will  use  me  when  he  wants 
me.  It  is  very  cold,  and  the  air  has  the  texture 
of  your  worst  Boston  weather,  —  steel-filings 
and  all. 

"  WILSON  SMALL,"  May  13. 

DEAR  MOTHER, — Yours  of  the  ninth  received. 
The  mails  come  with  sufficient  regularity.  We 
all  rush  at  the  letter-bag,  and  think  ourselves 
blighted  beings  if  we  get  nothing.  Yesterday  I 
came  on  board  this  boat,  where  there  are  thirty 
very  bad  cases,  —  four  or  five  amputations.  One 
poor  fellow,  a  lieutenant  in  the  Thirty-second 
New  York  Volunteers,  shot  through  the  knee, 
and  enduring  more  than  mortal  agony;  a  fair- 
haired  boy  of  seventeen,  shot  through  the  lungs, 


26  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

every  breath  he  draws  hissing  through  the 
wound ;  another  man,  a  poet,  with  seven  holes 
in  him,  but  irrepressibly  poetic  and  very  comi 
cal.  He  dictated  to  me  last  night  a  foolscap 
sheet  full  of  poetry  composed  for  the  occasion. 
His  appearance  as  he  sits  up  in  bed,  swathed 
in  a  nondescript  garment  or  poncho,  construct 
ed  for  him  by  Miss  Whetten  out  of  an  old 
green  table-cloth,  is  irresistibly  funny.  There 
is  also  a  captain  of  the  Sixteenth  New  York 
Volunteers,  mortally  wounded  while  leading  his 
company  against  a  regiment.  He  is  said  to 
measure  six  feet  seven  inches,  —  and  I  believe 
it,  looking  at  him  as  he  lies  there  on  a  cot, 
pieced  out  at  the  foot  with  two  chairs.1 

I  took  my  first  actual  watch  last  night ;  and 
this  morning  I  feel  the  same  ease  about  the 
work  which  yesterday  I  was  surprised  to  see  in 
others.  We  begin  the  day  by  getting  them  all 
washed,  and  freshened  up,  and  breakfasted. 
Then  the  surgeons  and  dressers  make  their 
rounds,  open  the  wounds,  apply  the  remedies, 
and  replace  the  bandages.  This  is  an  awful 
hour;  I  sat  with  my  fingers  in  my  ears  this 

1  Now  General  N.  M.  Curtis,  the  hero  of  Fort  Fisher. 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  27 

morning.  When  it  is  over,  we  go  back  to  the 
men  and  put  the  ward  in  order  once  more ;  re 
making  several  of  the  beds,  and  giving  clean 
handkerchiefs  with  a  little  cologne  or  bay- 
water  on  them,  —  so  prized  in  the  sickening 
atmosphere  of  wounds.  We  sponge  the  banda 
ges  over  the  wounds  constantly,  —  which  alone 
carries  us  round  from  cot  to  cot  almost  without 
stopping,  except  to  talk  to  some,  read  to  others, 
or  write  letters  for  them ;  occasionally  giving 
medicine  or  brandy,  etc.,  according  to  order. 
Then  comes  dinner,  which  we  serve  out  our 
selves,  feeding  those  who  can't  feed  them 
selves.  After  that  we  go  off  duty,  and  get  first 
washed  and  then  fed  ourselves;  our  dinner-table 
being  the  top  of  an  old  stove,  with  slices  of 
bread  for  plates,  fingers  for  knives  and  forks, 
and  carpet-bags  for  chairs,  —  all  this  because 
everything  available  is  being  used  for  our  poor 
fellows.  After  dinner  other  ladies  keep  the 
same  sort  of  watch  through  the  afternoon  and 
evening,  while  we  sit  on  the  floor  of  our  state 
rooms  resting,  and  perhaps  writing  letters,  as 
I  am  doing  now. 

Meantime  this  boat  has  run  up  the  York  River 


28  THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR. 

as  far  as  West  Point  (where  a  battle  was  fought 
on  Thursday),  in  obedience  to  a  telegram  from 
the  Medical  Director  of  the  Army,  request 
ing  the  Commission  to  take  off  two  hundred 
wounded  men  immediately.  A  transport  accom 
panies  us.  But  we  pay  little  heed  to  the  outside 
world,  and  though  we  have  been  under-way 
and  running  here  and  there  for  hours,  I  have 
only  just  found  it  out.  Don't  fret  if  you  do  not 
hear  from  me.  I  may  go  to  Washington  on  a 
hospital  transport,  or  —  to  Richmond  with  the 
army  !  and  you  may  not  hear  of  me  for  a  week. 
Let  no  one  pity  or  praise  us.  I  admit  painful- 
ness  ;  but  no  one  can  tell  how  sweet  it  is  to  be 
the  drop  of  comfort  to  so  much  agony. 

"WILSON  SMALL,"  May  14. 

DEAR  FRIEND,  —  Last  evening  we  parted  from 
all  our  poor  fellows,  except  Captain  Curtis,  the  ex 
tensive  hero,  who  is  said  to-day  to  have  a  chance 
for  life.  Our  men  were  put  on  board  the  "  Elm 
City,"  which  has  been  detailed  to  the  Commission. 
She  filled  up  this  morning  with  four  hundred 
and  forty  patients,  and  sailed  for  Washington. 
Mrs.  George  Strong  takes  charge  of  the  women's 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  29 

department,  and  Miss  Whetten  goes  with  her. 
I  was  sent  on  board  this  morning  to  assist  them, 
and  remained  there  till  the  boat  sailed.  The 
"  Elm  City "  is  a  large  river-steamboat,  with 
wide  spaces  on  all  her  decks,  where  badly 
wounded  men  can  be  laid  in  rows  on  cots  and 
mattresses,  —  they  could  not  be  put  in  bunks 
or  berths.  She  cannot  make  a  sea-passage,  and 
is  therefore  sent  up  the  Potomac  to  Washington. 

It  is  an  immense  piece  of  work  to  get  the 
patients  (many  of  them  very  low,  or  in  great 
agony)  on  board  and  into  their  beds,  and  stimu 
lated  and  fed  and  made  comfortable.  So  much 
is  needed,  —  quick  eyes  and  ears,  and,  above  all, 
some  one  to  keep  severe  order  in  the  pantry, 
or  rather  the  kitchen  for  the  sick-food.  Mrs. 
Griffin  is  magnificent  at  that.  I  never  saw 
her  hurried  or  worried  for  a  moment;  conse 
quently  she  saves  time  and  temper,  and  does 
the  very  best  that  can  be  done.  She  spent 
this  morning  on  the  "Elm  City"  watching 
over  three  men  until  they  died,  receiving  their 
last  wishes,  which  she  is  now  writing  to  their 
wives. 

You  will  get  little  public  information  from 


30  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

me.  I  am  told  we  went  some  way  up  the 
Pamunky  River  yesterday.  Mr.  Olmsted  landed, 
and  went  over  the  Williamsburg  battle-field  with 
incredible  difficulty  and  jolting.  It  is  two  and 
a  half  miles  long,  with  the  fences  all  broken 
down.  The  enemy  are  expected  to  make  a  des 
perate  stand  at  Bottom  Bridge  —  wherever  that 
may  be.  The  army  is  now  making  its  way 
along  the  banks  of  the  Pamunky  •  great  regret 
is  felt  that  General  McDowell  was  not  allowed 
to  co-operate  at  Gloucester.  The  spirit  of  our 
men,  their  confidence  in  their  leaders,  their  pride 
in  belonging  to  McClellan  and  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  is  splendid,  so  far  as  I  see  it ;  and 
everybody  says  the  same.  Many  fine  traits  of 
character  come  out, — such  as  their  self -forgetful- 
ness  and  tenderness  in  caring  for  sick  comrades, 
their  endurance  of  suffering,  and  even  contempt 
for  it.  A  poor  little  boy  of  seventeen,  shot 
through  the  lungs,  was  so  unwilling  to  speak  of 
himself,  never  murmuring,  but  roused  into 
excitement  on  the  arrival  of  the  New  York 
papers  with  accounts  of  the  battles.  I  began 
to  read  to  him  about  the  battle  of  Williamsburg, 
where  he  was  wounded ;  but  he  gurgled  out  : 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  31 

"  Not  that !  I  know  all  about  that.  What  did 
our  boys  do  next?  " 

The  fire  we  saw  on  our  way  across  the  Chesa 
peake  was  the  burning  of  the  Navy-yard  at 
Norfolk,  and  the  dull  explosion  which  we  heard 
was  the  blowing  up  of  the  "  Merrimac." 

"WILSON  SMALL,"  May  14. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  If  I  can  write  amid  all  the 
fun  and  nonsense  that  is  going  on  around  me, 
I  will  try  to  give  you  a  general  idea  of  the  state 
of  things  here.  The  « Elm  City,"  filled  with 
wounded  men,  sailed  this  morning.  The  "  S.  R. 
Spaulding,"  a  large  ocean  steamship,  is  to  be 
fitted  up  for  hospital  service  ;  and  that  appears 
to  be  our  next  work.  Meantime  "  Georgy " 
has  returned  with  another  vessel,  the  "Knicker 
bocker,"  in  perfect  order.  It  seems  that  the 
Quartermaster's  department  ran  away  with  the 
boat  for  some  purpose  of  its  own,  carrying 
the  ladies  in  her, — for  Georgy  is  a  lady,  sister  of 

Mrs.  M .     Miss  Rosalie  Butler  accompanied 

her.  They  made  the  most  of  their  time,  and 
have  brought  back  the  runaway  boat  in  perfect 
hospital  order.  I  've  just  been  over  her.  They 


32  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

have  had  her  cleansed  from  top  to  toe,  that 
is,  from  the  hold  to  the  hurricane-deck.  The 
"  Knickerbocker/'  you  must  know,  is  a  large 
river-steamboat,  and  is  intended  for  surgical 
cases.  Then  they  prepared  the  cots,  mattresses, 
and  bunks,  and  made  the  beds  ;  arranged  every 
ward  with  all  necessary  appliances ;  filled  the 
linen-closets  with  the  proper  quantity  of  bed- 
linen,  hospital-clothing,  socks,  bandages,  lint, 
rags,  etc.  (which  were  packed  in  cases  and 
bales),  got  ready  the  hospital-kitchen,  stole  a 
stove  for  it,  as  far  as  I  can  make  out,  and  had 
all  the  necessary  stores  unpacked  and  moved 
into  places  where  they  would  be  at  hand  when 
needed.  These  girls  must  be  splendidly  efficient. 
It  is  not  the  doing  it,  but  the  knowing  how  it 
should  be  done,  and  handling  the  whole  affair 
with  as  much  ease  as  if  they  were  arranging  a 
doll's  house,  that  delights  me. 

We  are  all  now  sitting  idly  on  carpet-bags  or 
on  the  floor,  in  a  little  covered  saloon  or  pass 
age  on  to  which  our  staterooms  open.  Our 
dinner-table,  the  stove,  is  being  removed,  and 
Dr.  Ware  is  improvising  a  better,  with  a  plank 
across  the  railing  of  the  stairs.  The  moment 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  33 

the  pressure  is  taken  off,  we  all  turn-to  to  "  be  as 
funny  as  we  can."  I  am  astonished  at  the  cheer 
ful  devotion  —  whole-souled  and  whole-bodied 
devotion  —  of  the  surgeon  and  medical  students 
attached  to  this  boat.1  These  young  men  toil 
day  and  night  at  the  severest  work,  quick,  intel 
ligent,  and  tender.  Their  business  is  to  ship 
the  men,  move  them  carefully  from  one  boat  to 
another,  and  register  their  names  and  all  their 
belongings  ;  to  attend  to  the  dispensaries,  keep 
ing  them  amply  supplied  with  stores  ;  to  give 
medical  and  surgical  attendance,  dress  the 
wounds,  and  often  to  sit  up  all  night,  after  work 
ing  hard  all  day.  Then  they  turn  in  wherever 
a  mattress  comes  handy,  take  a  long  sleep,  and 
come  out  of  it  refreshed  and  full  of  fun,  —  in 
which  we  join  until  the  next  work  comes,  and 
then  we  are  all  fresh  to  work  in  cheerful  concert 
together.  This  seems  the  best  way  to  do  the 
work ;  nothing  morbid  comes  of  it,  —  which  is 
the  danger. 

We  are  now  making  ready  to  run  up  the  Pa- 
munky  River  as  far  as  the  advance  of  the  army 

1  Dr.  Robert  Ware,  surgeon  ;  Messrs.  David  Haight,  Charles 
Woolsey,  George  Wheelock. 

3 


34  THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR. 

at  Cumberland.  This  boat,  the  "Wilson  Small," 
is  disabled.  She  was  twice  run  into  to-day,  —  the 
second  time  by  the  huge  "  Vanderbilt,"  which 
nearly  demolished  her.  We  are  to  be  towed  by 
the  "  Knickerbocker  "  (for  we  can't  even  get  up 
steam)  as  far  as  West  Point,  where  there  is  a 
ship-yard.  You  must  get  a  good  map  and  fol 
low  us  and  the  army,  —  or  rather  the  army  and 
us.  General  Franklin's  corps,  with  those  of 
Porter  and  Sedgwick,  are  at  Cumberland  and 
New  Kent  Court-House.  This  is  the  right  wing. 
The  left  is  moving  towards  the  Chickahominy  at 
Bottom  Bridge,  where  the  enemy  are  supposed 
to  be  rallying  for  a  stand.  Meantime  McDowell 
is  coming  down  from  Fredericksburg  at  last, 
Banks  from  the  direction  of  Gordonsville,  and 
perhaps  Burnside  may  get  up  along  the  line  of 
the  Petersburg  Railway.  The  general  opinion 
is  that  a  fearful  struggle  will  take  place  before 
Richmond.  Alas  !  But  it  is  not  a  battle  which 
destroys  so  many  lives  as  it  is  the  terrible  deci 
mating  diseases  brought  on  by  exposure  and 
hardships  and  the  climate  of  marshes  and  water 
courses.  The  majority  of  the  cases  of  ill 
ness  which  I  have  seen  were  men  who  dropped 


THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF   WAR.  35 

exhausted  from  the  army  on  its  march,  and  had 
painfully  made  their  way  to  the  banks  of  creeks 
and  rivers,  where  they  were  picked  up  by  pass 
ing  boats  and  brought  down  to  us.  A  number 
of  men  who  came  to-day  (one  lad  who  died  al 
most  immediately)  were  in  the  battle  of  West 
Point,  and  took  the  fever  from  exposure  and 
fatigue  afterwards. 

A  telegram  is  just  brought  on  board,  saying 
that  a  hundred  sick  men  are  waiting  at  Bige- 
low's  Landing  for  transportation  ;  the  telegram 
says,  "  They  are  dying  in  the  rain."  This  mess 
age  is  to  the  United  States  Medical  officer  at 
Yorktown;  but  he  seems  to  think  the  obvious 
thing  to  do  is  to  hand  it  over  at  once  to  the 
Sanitary  Commission.  Mr.  Olmsted  is  not  on 
board ;  when  he  is  found  I  suppose  we  shall 
start.  The  "  Knickerbocker  "  is  all  ready  for 
three  hundred  men,  and  I  think  it  likely  we 
shall  run  up  in  her  and  be  at  work  all  night ; 
but  nothing  is  too  much  with  such  efficiency  as 
we  have  on  board,  —  order,  calmness,  prompti 
tude.  I  only  wish  we  might  be  kept  working 
together. 

Mrs. 's  mother  wrrites  dismal  letters,  which 


36  THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR. 

try  her  very  much, —  saying,  for  instance,  that  a 
lady  must  put  away  all  delicacy  and  refinement 
for  this  work.  Nothing  could  be  more  false.  It 
is  not  too  much  to  say  that  delicacy  and  refine 
ment  and  the  fact  of  being  a  gentlewoman  could 
never  tell  more  than  they  do  here.  I  read  your 
letter  to  Mrs. to  make  her  envious. 

"WILSON  SMALL,"  May  16. 

DEAR  FRIEND,  —  I  have  asked  every  one 
within  reach  what  day  of  the  week  it  is :  in 
vain.  Reference  to  Mr.  Olmsted,  who  knows 
everything,  establishes  that  it  is  Friday.  Is  it 
one  week,  or  five,  since  I  left  New  York  ? 

As  I  wrote  the  last  words  of  my  last  letter, 
the  "  Elizabeth,"  our  supply-boat,  came  along 
side  with  Mr.  Olmsted  and  Mr.  Knapp,  and  just 
behind  them  a  steamer  with  one  hundred  and 
eighty  sick  on  board.  All  hands  were  at  once 
alert.  The  sick  men  were  to  be  put  on  board 
the  "Knickerbocker,"  whither  we  all  went  at 
once,  armed  with  our  precious  spirit-lamps. 
Meantime  Mr.  Olmsted  read  a  telegram  we 
had  received  in  his  absence,  saying  that  a  hun 
dred  sick  were  lying  at  Bigelow's  Landing  and 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  37 

"  dying  in  the  rain."  Mr.  Knapp  took  charge 
of  the  "  Elizabeth/'  saying,  "  Who  volunteers 
to  go  up  for  them?"  Three  young  men,  Miss 
Helen  Gilson,  and  I  followed  him.  Not  a 
moment  was  lost,  —  Mr.  Knapp  would  not 
even  let  me  go  back  for  a  shawl,  —  and  the 
tug  was  off. 

The  "  Elizabeth  "  is  our  store-tender  or  sup 
ply-boat.  Her  main-deck  is  piled  from  deck  to 
deck  with  boxes.  The  first  thing  done  is  to 
pick  out  six  cases  of  pillows,  six  of  quilts,  one 
of  brandy,  and  a  cask  of  bread.  Then  all  the 
rest  are  lowered  into  the  hold.  Meantime  I 
make  for  the  kitchen,  where  I  find  a  remarkable 
old  black  aunty  and  a  fire.  I  dive  into  her  pots 
and  pans,  I  wheedle  her  out  of  her  green  tea 
(the  black  having  given  out),  and  soon  I  have 
eight  bucketsful  of  tea  and  pyramids  of  bread 
and  butter.  Miss  Gilson  and  the  young  men 
have  spread  the  cleared  main-deck  with  two 
layers  of  quilts  and  rows  of  pillows  a  man's 
length  apart,  and  we  are  ready  for  the  men 
some  time  before  we  reach  them;  for  the  night 
is  dark  and  rainy,  and  the  boat  has  got  aground, 
and  it  is  fully  ten  o'clock  before  the  men  are 


38  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

brought  alongside.  The  poor  fellows  are  led  or 
carried  on  board,  and  stowed  side  by  side  as 
close  as  can  be.  We  feed  them  with  spoonfuls 
of  brandy  and  water  ;  they  are  utterly  broken 
down,  soaked  through,  some  of  them  raving 
with  fever.  After  all  are  laid  down,  Miss  Gil- 
son  and  I  give  them  their  suppers,  and  they  sink 
down  again.  Any  one  who  looks  over  such  a  deck 
as  that,  and  sees  the  suffering,  despondent  atti 
tudes  of  the  men,  and  their  worn  frames  and 
faces,  knows  what  war  is,  better  than  the  sight 
of  wounds  can  teach  it.  We  could  only  take 
ninety  ;  twenty-five  others  had  to  go  on  the 
small  tug  which  accompanied  us.  Mr.  Knapp, 
the  doctor,  and  one  of  the  young  men  went  on 
board  of  her.  Meantime  the  "  Elizabeth  "  started 
on  the  homeward  trip,  so  that  Miss  Gilson  and 
I  and  a  quartermaster  were  left  to  manage  our 
men  alone.  Fortunately  only  about  a  dozen 
were  very  ill,  and  none  died.  Still,  I  felt  anx 
ious  :  six  were  out  of  their  minds ;  one  had 
tried  to  destroy  himself  three  times  that  day, 
and  was  drenched  through  and  through,  having 
been  dragged  out  of  the  creek  into  which  he 
had  thrown  himself  just  before  we  reached  him. 


THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR.  39 

We  were  alongside  the  "Knickerbocker"  by 
1  A.  M.,  when  Dr.  Ware  came  on  board  and  gave 
me  some  general  directions,  after  which  I  got 
along  very  well.  It  was  thought  best  to  leave 
the  poor  wearied  fellows  to  rest  where  they 
Were  until  morning,  and  the  night  passed  off 
quietly  enough ;  my  only  disaster  being  that  I 
gave  morphia  to  a  man  who  actually  screamed 
with  rheumatism  and  cramp.  I  supposed  mor 
phia  could  n't  hurt  him,  and  it  was  a  mercy  to 
others  to  stop  the  noise.  Instead  of  this,  I 
made  him  perfectly  crazy.  He  rose  to  his  feet 
in  the  midst  of  the  prostrate  mass  of  men,  and 
demanded  of  them  and  of  me  his  "  clean  linen  " 
and  his  "  Sunday  clothes."  I  picked  my  way  to 
him,  but  could  do  nothing  at  first  but  make 
him  worse.  At  last  I  was  inspired  to  say  that 
I  had  all  his  clothes  "  there "  (pointing  to  a 
dark  corner  behind  a  bulkhead) :  "  would  he  lie 
down  and  wait  till  I  brought  them  ?  "  To  my 
surprise  he  subsided.  I  hid  in  trepidation  for 
a  few  minutes,  and  at  last,  to  my  great  joy,  I 
saw  the  morphine  take  effect.  One  little  fel 
low  of  fifteen,  crushed  by  a  tree  falling  on  his 
breast,  had  run  away  from  his  mother,  and  was 


40  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

very  pathetic.  I  persuaded  him  to  let  me 
write  to  her. 

The  next  morning,  after  getting  them  all 
washed,  I  went  off  guard,  and  Mrs.  Griffin  and 
Miss  Butler  came  on  board  with  their  break 
fast  from  the  "  Knickerbocker,"  where  the 
hundred  and  eighty  whom  we  had  left  arriving 
the  night  before,  were  stowed  and  cared  for. 
Getting  them  all  washed,  as  I  say,  is  a  droll 
piece  of  work.  Some  are  indifferent  to  the 
absurd  luxury  of  soap  and  water,  and  some  are 
so  fussy.  Some  poor  faces  we  must  wash  our 
selves,  and  that  softly  and  slowly.  I  started 
along  each  row  with  two  tin  basins  and  two 
bits  of  soap,  my  arm  being  the  towel-horse. 
Now,  you  are  not  to  suppose  that  each  man  had 
a  basinful  of  clean  water  all  to  himself.  How 
ever,  I  thought  three  to  a  basin  was  enough,  or 
four,  if  they  did  n't  wash  too  hard.  But  an  old 
corporal  taught  me  better.  "Stop,  inarm!" 
said  he,  as  I  was  turning  back  with  the  dirty 
water  to  get  fresh;  "that  water  will  do  for 
several  of  us  yet.  Bless  you !  I  make  my 
coffee  of  worse  than  that." 

Soon   after   breakfast   my   men   were   trans- 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  41 

ferred  to  the  "  Knickerbocker."  She  still  lies 
alongside,  and  we  take  care  of  her.  She  is 
beautifully  in  order.  The  ward-masters  are 
all  excellent,  and  the  orderlies  know  their  duty. 
The  men  look  comfortable,  and  even  cheerful. 
It  is  a  pleasure  to  give  them  their  meals.  I 
gave  the  men  in  the  long  ward  (where  they  lie 
on  mattresses  in  two  rows,  head  to  head,  two 
hundred  of  them)  their  dinner  to-day,  and  their 
supper  yesterday.  Ah,  me !  how  they  liked  it, 
—  some  of  them,  of  course,  too  worn  to  do  more 
than  swallow  a  few  spoonfuls  and  look  grateful ; 
others  loud  in  their  satisfaction.  The  poor, 
crazy  man  who  tried  to  destroy  himself  at  Big- 
elow's  Landing  has  some  vague  idea  about  me 
now  ;  and  sometimes,  when  he  utterly  refuses 
his  milk-punch,  and  thrashes  and  splutters  at 
every  one  who  comes  near  him,  I  am  sent  for, 
when  he  subsides  into  obedience  with  a  smile 
which  is  meant  to  be  bland,  and  is  so  comical 
that  people  around  retire  in  convulsions. 

To-day  I  am  "loafing."  Everything  is  in 
perfect  order  on  the  "  Knickerbocker ; "  and  as 
I  scent  a  transfer  this  afternoon  of  the  whole 
corps  to  the  "  Spanieling,"  to  fit  her  up,  I  am 


42  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

determined  to  husband  my  efforts.  This  boat, 
the  "  Wilson  Small,"  is  finally  smashed  up  ;  we 
call  her  the  "Collida."  The  hospital-boats 
usually  lie  alongside  of  each  other,  with  their 
gangways  connected ;  and  sometimes  we  run 
through  four  or  five  boats  at  a  time. 

Captain  Curtis  is  still  on  board,  doing  well. 
He  goes  North  on  the  "  Knickerbocker  "  to-day. 
Now  that  our  wounded  men  are  gone,  we  have 
a  dinner-table  set,  and  the  Captain  lies  in  his 
cot  on  one  side  of  the  cabin,  laughing  at  the 
fun  and  nonsense  which  go  on  at  meals.  Mrs. 
M.  has  her  French  man-servant,  Maurice,  on 
board.  He  is  capital.  He  struggles  to  keep  us 
proper  in  manners  and  appearance,  and  still 
dreams  of  les  convenances.  At  dinner-time  he 
rushes  through  the  various  ships  and  wards : 
"  My  ladies,  fai  un  petit  plat ;  je  ne  vous  dirai 
pas  ce  que  cest.  I  beg  of  you  to  be  pone- 
tuelle ;  I  gif  you  half-hour's  notis."  The  half- 
hour  having  expired,  he  sets  out  again  on  a 
voyage  of  entreaty  and  remonstrance.  He 
won't  let  us  help  ourselves,  and  if  we  take  a 
seat  not  close  to  the  person  above,  he  says : 
"  No,  no,  move  up ;  we  must  have  order."  His 


THE  OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  43 

petit  plat  proved  to  be  baked  potatoes,  which 
were  received  with  acclamation,  while  he  stood 
bowing  and  smiling  with  a  towel  (or  it  may 
have  been  a  rag)  for  a  napkin.  But  I  must 
tell  you  that  Maurice  is  the  tenderest  of  nurses, 
and  gives  every  moment  he  can  spare  to  the 
sick.  He  serves  his  mistress,  but  he  is  at 
tentive  to  all,  and,  like  a  true  Frenchman,  he 
so  identifies  himself  with  the  moment  and  its 
interests  that  he  is,  to  all  hospital  intents  and 
purposes,  "  one  of  us/' 

You  are  not  to  be  alarmed  by  the  word  "ty 
phoid,"  which  I  foresee  will  occur  on  every  page 
of  my  letters,  nearly  all  our  sick  cases  being 
that  or  running  into  that.  The  idea  of  infec 
tion  is  simply  absurd.  The  ventilation  of  these 
ships  is  excellent ;  besides,  people  employed  in 
such  a  variety  of  work  and  in  high  health  and 
spirits  are  not  liable  to  infection.  Nobody  ever 
thinks  of  such  a  thing,  and  I  only  mention  it 
to  check  your  imagination.  In  a  boat  organ 
ized  like  the  "Knickerbocker,"  we  women  stand 
no  regular  watch,  but  we  are  on  hand  at  all 
hours  of  the  day,  relieving  each  other  at  our 
own  convenience.  As  for  the  ladies  among 


44  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

whom  my  luck  has  thrown  me,  they  are  just 
what  they  should  be,  —  efficient,  wise,  active  as 
cats,  merry,  light-hearted,  thoroughbred,  and 
without  the  fearful  tone  of  self-devotion  which 
sad  experience  makes  one  expect  in  benevolent 
women.  We  all  know  in  our  hearts  that  it  is 
thorough  enjoyment  to  be  here,  —  it  is  life,  in 
short ;  and  we  would  n't  be  anywhere  else  for 
anything  in  the  world.  I  hope  people  will 
continue  to  sustain  the  Sanitary  Commission. 
Hundreds  of  lives  are  being  saved  by  it.  I 
have  seen  with  my  own  eyes  in  one  week  fifty 
men  who  must  have  died  without  it,  and  many 
more  who  probably  would  have  done  so.  I 
speak  of  lives  saved  only  ;  the  amount  of  suf 
fering  saved  is  incalculable.  The  Commission 
keeps  up  the  work  at  great  expense.  It  has 
six  large  steamers  running  from  here.  Gov 
ernment  furnishes  these  and  the  bare  rations  of 
the  men  ;  but  the  real  expenses  of  supply  fall 
on  the  Commission,  —  in  fact,  everything  that 
makes  the  power  and  excellence  of  the  work  is 
supplied  by  the  Commission.  If  people  ask 
what  they  shall  send,  say :  Money,  money, 
stimulants,  and  articles  of  sick-food. 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  45 

"  S.  R.  SPAULDING,"  PAMUNKY  RIVER, 
May  17. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  This  has  been  a  delightful 
day.  The  "  Knickerbocker  "  got  safely  off  at 
five  o'clock  this  morning,  after  a  rather  anxious 
night.  One  of  the  men  from  the  "  Elizabeth  " 
died,  and  another  jumped  overboard.  He  rushed 
past  me  and  sprang  from  the  bulwark.  I  heard 
the  splash,  but  all  that  I,  or  any  one,  saw  of 
him  were  the  rings  in  the  water  widening  in  the 
moonlight.  Boats  were  put  off  immediately,  but 
he  never  rose. 

Last  night,  being  off  duty,  I  went  round  to 
a  number  of  Rhode  Island  men  who  were  on 
board,  and  wrote  letters  or  took  messages  for 
them.  A  coincidence — a  real  coincidence  —  oc 
curred.  I  had  heard  Mr.  Knapp  telling  Mr 
Olmsted  of  the  death  of  a  Newport  man,  David 
A.  Newman,  Fourth  Rhode  Island  Volunteers.  I 
asked  for  his  effects,  that  I  might  some  day  take 
them  home  with  me.  In  searching  for  them,  a 
knapsack  marked  "  Simeon  A.  Newman,  Fourth 
Rhode  Island  Volunteers,"  turned  up  without  its 
owner,  who  had  died  in  Washington  in  Decem 
ber,  1861.  This  knapsack  had  wandered  on 


46  THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF   WAR. 

with  the  regiment ;  by  chance  it  got  on  board 
our  boat;  by  chance  it  came  under  my  notice;  by 
chance  I  spoke  of  it  to  one  of  the  Rhode  Island 
men,  who  said :  "  I  know  a  man  who  knew 
Simeon  A.  Newman,  and  he  is  sick  on  board 
here  now."  I  hunted  him  up ;  he  proved  to 
be  the  nearest  friend  of  S.  A.  Newman,  who 
was  color-sergeant  of  the  regiment,  and  was 
with  him  when  he  died.  He  told  me  that  after 
his  death  the  widow  wrote  to  beg  that  his  sash 
might  be  sent  to  her ;  but  though  every  effort 
was  made,  the  widow  writing  again  and  again 
for  it,  it  could  never  be  found.  I  went  at  once 
to  the  knapsack,  and  there  ivas  the  sash.  I 
have  sent  them  by  express  to  Bristol,  R.  I., 
where  the  widow  lives. 

After  the  "  Knickerbocker  "  was  off  we  "  took 
it  easy  ; "  came  out  to  breakfast  at  ten  o'clock, 
and  transferred  ourselves  leisurely  to  this  ship, 
which  is  a  palace  to  us.  We  were  rather  sub 
dued  by  our  grandeur  at  dinner.  Hotel-fare 
and  men  to  wait  upon  us  is  rather  elevating 
after  eating  salt-beef  with  our  fingers.  After 
dinner  we  ran  up  to  West  Point,  where  the 
York  River  forks,  the  northern  branch  being 


THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF   WAR.  47 

the  Mattapony  (pronounced  Mattapom)  ;  the 
other  the  Pamunky,  along  the  line  of  which 
the  army  has  advanced,  —  through  the  thirteen 
thousand  acres  granted  by  Charles  II.  to  Ralph 
Wormeley  2d  ;  strange,  is  n't  it,  that  I  should 
be  here  now  ?  They  have  had  the  pluck  to 
run  this  huge  vessel  up  this  little  river,  without 
a  chart,  and  not  a  soul  on  board  who  has  been 
here  before.  The  passage  has  been  enchanting ; 
we  ran  so  close  to  the  shore  that  I  could  almost 
have  thrown  my  glove  upon  it.  The  verdure 
is  in  its  freshest  spring  beauty ;  the  lovely 
shores  are  belted  with  trees  and  shrubs  of  every 
brilliant  and  tender  shade  of  green,  broken  now 
and  then  by  creeks,  running  up  little  valleys 
till  they  are  lost  in  the  blue  distance.  I  saw 
the  beginning  of  the  battle-field  of  .Williams- 
burg  ("  long  fields  of  barley  and  of  rye  "  but 
a  week  ago),  and  the  whole  of  the  battle-field 
of  West  Point,  still  dotted  with  the  hospital- 
tents,  from  which  we  have  cleared  out  all  the 
wounded. 

The  sun  set  as  we  rounded  the  last  bend  in 
the  Pamunky ;  the  sky  and  the  water  gleamed 
golden  alike,  and  the  trees  suddenly  grew  black 


48  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

as  the  glow  dazzled  our  eyes.  We  dropped 
anchor  off  Cumberland  at  dusk,  and  have  just 
left  the  deck  (on  sanitary  principles),  where  we 
were  sitting  to  enjoy  the  lovely  lights  and  listen 
to  the  whippoorwill.  This  is  yachting  on  a 
magnificent  scale  ;  we  feel  rather  ashamed  of 
our  grandeur,  and  eager  to  get  back  to  a  tug 
boat  again.  This  vessel,  which  used  to  be  a  fine 
passenger  steamship,  has  been  employed  by  the 
Government  as  a  transport  for  major-generals 
and  their  train.  This  accounts  for  the  style  in 
which  she  is  equipped  and  manned.  She  is  now 
filled  with  workmen,  putting  up  three  tiers  of 
hospital-bunks  in  the  hold  and  on  the  forward 
main-deck  ;  after  that  is  finished  we  shall  begin 
to  fit  up  the  wards.  To-day  we  have  organized 
the  pantry  and  store-rooms. 


"  S.  R.  SPAULDING," 

OFF  HEADQUARTERS,  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC, 
WHITE  HOUSE,  May  18. 

DEAR  A.,  —  My  date  will  excite  you.  Yes 
terday,  after  getting  on0  the  "  Knickerbocker  " 
with  three  hundred  sick  on  board,  we  trans 
ferred  our  quarters  to  this  vessel,  and  started  to 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  49 

run  up  the  Pamunky.  It  was  audacious  of  us 
to  run  this  big  ocean-steamer  up  this  little  river, 
without  a  chart  and  without  a  pilot.  In  some 
places  we  brushed  the  trees  as  we  passed,  for 
the  water  is  said  to  be  fifteen  feet  deep  a  yard 
from  the  shore.  What  a  garden  land  it  is  ! 
Such  verdure  of  every  brilliant  shade  lining  the 
shore,  and  broken  into,  here  and  there,  by  little 
creeks  running  up  through  meadow-lands  into 
the  misty  blue  distance.  We  anchored  for  the 
night  off  Cumberland,  —  the  limit  of  my  aspi 
rations  ;  and  I  went  to  sleep  in  the  still  linger 
ing  twilight,  listening  to  the  whippoorwill.  In 
the  morning  when  I  came  on  deck  Mr.  Olmsted 
called  me  forward  into  the  bows :  and  what  a 
sight  was  there  to  greet  us  !  The  glow  of  the 
morning  mist,  the  black  gunboats,  the  shining 
river,  with  the  gleam  of  the  wrhite  sails  and 
the  tents  along  the  shore,  made  a  picture  to  be 
painted  only  by  Turner.  We  ran  up  to  the 
head  of  the  fleet,  in  sight  of  the  headquarters 
of  the  army,  to  the  burned  railroad  bridge, 
beyond  which  no  one  could  go. 

After  breakfast  we  went  ashore,  where  Gen 
eral  Franklin  met  us  and  took  us  through  part 

4 


50  THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR. 

of  his  command,  —  through  trains  of  army-wag 
ons  drawn  by  four  mules  ;  through  a  ploughed 
field  across  which  mounted  officers  and  their 
staffs  were  galloping  at  full  speed ;  through 
sutlers'  tents  and  commissary  stores,  and  bat 
teries  and  caissons.  It  was  like  a  vast  fair 
ground.  We  met  one  man  eating  six  pies  at 
once,  and  not  a  man  without  one  pie  !  I  wished 
intensely  to  stop  at  General  Headquarters  as 
we  passed  it.  But  to-day  General  McClellan  is 
overborne  by  business :  the  army  arrived  here 
on  the  16th ;  twelve  scouting-parties  are  now 
out,  some  coming  in  every  hour ;  McClellan  him 
self  is  not  able  to  speak  an  unnecessary  word  ; 
a  council  is  to  be  held  this  evening,  to  ar 
range  the  last  details  for  the  move  to-morrow, 
—  so  we  felt  we  ought  not  even  to  wish  to  see 
him. 

General  Franklin  took  us  to  the  White 
House,  —  a  house  and  estate  just  quitted  by  the 
family  of  a  son  of  General  Lee,  whose  wife 
was  a  Custis.  I  copied  the  following  notice, 
written  in  a  lady's  hand  on  a  half  sheet  of 
note-paper,  and  nailed  to  the  wall  of  the 
entrance :  — 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  51 

NORTHERN  soldiers  !  who  profess  to  reverence  the 
memory  of  Washington,  forbear  to  desecrate  the  home 
of  his  first  married  life,  the  property  of  his  wife,  and 
now  owned  by  her  descendants. 

A  GRANDDAUGHTER  OP  MRS.  WASHINGTON 

Underneath  was  written  (in  the  handwriting, 
as  I  was  told,  of  General  Williams,  Adjutant- 
General  of  the  army) :  — 

LADY,  —  A  Northern  soldier  has  protected  this 
property  within  sight  of  the  enemy,  and  at  the  re 
quest  of  your  overseer. 

And  so  it  was.  On  reaching  the  spot,  Gen 
eral  McClellan  would  not  even  make  his  head 
quarters  within  the  grounds.  Guards  were 
stationed  at  the  gates  and  fences,  on  the  lawns 
and  the  piazzas.  Within,  all  was  beautiful, 
untrodden,  and  fresh,  while  without  was  the 
tumult  and  trampling  of  war.  Already  the 
surrounding  country  was  a  barren  and  dusty 
plain.  We  walked  through  the  grounds,  across 
the  peaceful  lawns  looking  down  upon  the 
river  crowded  with  transports  and  ammunition- 
barges.  We  went  through  the  house,  which  is 
a  small  cottage,  painted  brown,  and  by  no 
means  a  white  house.  The  carpets  and  a  great 


52  THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF   WAR. 

part  of  the  furniture  had  been  removed,  but 
enough  remained  to  show  that  modern  elegance 
had  adorned  the  quaint  old  place.  Washington 
never  lived  in  the  present  house,  which  has 
been  built  on  the  site  of  the  one  in  which  he 
spent  his  early  married  life. 

General  Franklin  allowed  me  to  gather  some 
ivy  and  some  holly.  We  stayed  nearly  an 
hour,  sitting  on  the  piazza  and  talking  to  him. 
He  struck  me  as  an  officer  of  power,  —  large, 
with  square  face  and  head,  deep-sunk,  deter 
mined  blue  eyes,  close-cropped  reddish-brown 
hair  and  beard.  He  told  us  that  the  battle  of 
Williamsburg  was  full  of  anxiety  from  first  to 
last,  and  that  it  took  much  to  decide  the  final 
fortunes  of  the  day;  but  at  West  Point,  after 
the  men  were  landed,  he  was  not  for  a  moment 
uneasy,  the  game  was  in  our  hands  from  the 
beginning.  He  feels  confident  that  the  enemy 
will  make  a  great  resistance  before  Richmond  ; 
if  not,  it  will  be  a  virtual  surrender  of  their 
cause,  which  he  thinks  they  are  far  from  mak 
ing.  Everything,  he  said,  depended  on  the 
strength  of  our  army,  and  he  told  us  that 
McDowell  was  at  last  coming  down  on  our 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  53 

right  wing,  which  is  to  be  extended  to  meet 
him.  He  spoke  with  the  deepest  confidence  in 
McClellan,  who,  he  said,  was  in  good  spirits, 
though  fearfully  overworked. 

As  we  were  leaving  White  House,  General 
Fitz-John  Porter  came  to  meet  us,  and  walked 
with  us  to  our  wharf,  where  we  met  General 
Morell  -,  and  they  all  came  on  board  and  stayed 
half  an  hour.  I  felt  great  interest  in  General 
Porter,  who  commands  one  corps  d'armee, 
General  Franklin  commanding  another.  Gen 
eral  Morell  is  also  an  interesting  man;  looks 
like  dear  father,  but  wears  a  long  white  beard. 
He  received  the  command  of  a  division  yester 
day.  General  Porter  spoke  of  McClellan  just  as 
we  all  feel,  —  as  a  patriot  as  well  as  a  general, 
as  a  man  who  wisely  seeks  to  heal,  as  well  as  to 
conquer.  There  is  a  fine  spirit  in  General  Por 
ter.  He  probably  has  less  power  than  General 
Franklin,  is  more  excitable  and  sympathetic; 
but  there  is  an  expression  of  devotion  about 
him  which  inspires  great  confidence.  They 
were  all  very  guarded,  of  course,  in  what  they 
said  of  the  future ;  but  two  hours'  talk  with 
such  men  in  such  places  teaches  much. 


54  THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF   WAR. 

This  afternoon  General  Seth  Williams,  Ad 
jutant-General,  came  on  board  to  pay  his  re 
spects  to  Mrs.  Griffin.  His  visit  gave  us  all 
great  pleasure.  I  am  told  that  if  any  man 
possesses  in  an  equal  degree  the  respect  and 
attachment  of  others,  he  does ;  and  yet  his 
quiet,  modest  manner  and  plain  appearance 
would  hardly  instruct  a  stranger  as  to  his  posi 
tion  in  the  army.  These  gentlemen  were  ac 
companied  by  many  young  officers,  all  spurs 
and  swords  and  clanking.  They  were  thankful 
for  some  of  our  private  stores,  — needles,  buttons, 
and  linen  thread  were  as  much  prized  as  beads 
by  an  Indian ;  and  even  hairpins  were  accept 
able  to  General  Porter,  one  button  of  whose 
cap  was  already  screwed  on  by  that  female 
implement. 

I  am  happy  to  say  that  there  is  no  immediate 
chance  of  my  being  anywhere  but  here.  We 
came  up  for  medicines  and  general  information ; 
the  result  is  that  Mr.  Olmsted  finds  such  a 
state  of  disorganization  and  sixes-and-sevenness 
in  the  medical  arrangements  that  he  has  deter 
mined  to  make  his  headquarters  here  for  the 
present.  Mr.  Knapp  has  therefore  just  started 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  55 

in  the  tug  for  Yorktown  to  bring  up  the  sup 
ply-boats,  and  leave  orders  for  our  hospital- 
fleet  to  follow  us  up  the  river  as  they  arrive 
from  the  North. 

The  state  of  affairs  is  somewhat  this :  when 
the  march  from  Yorktown  began,  and  the  men 
dropped  by  thousands,  exhausted,  sick,  and 
wounded,  the  Medical  Department,  unprepared 
and  terribly  harassed,  flung  itself  upon  the  San 
itary  Commission.  When  it  became  known 
that  our  transports  were  lying  in  the  river,  the 
brigade-surgeons  made  a  business  of  sending 
their  sick  on  board  of  them;  and  the  Medical 
Director  sanctioned  the  practice.  The  hospitals 
at  Yorktown,  Fortress  Monroe,  and  Newport 
News  are  full;  the  Commission  has  therefore 
been  forced  to  take  these  men  to  the  North. 
Nothing,  of  course,  is  more  desirable  for  those 
who  are  seriously  ill  or  badly  wounded ;  but 
every  man  who  falls  exhausted  from  the  ranks 
is  sent  to  us.  This  will  prove  in  the  end  ac 
tually  demoralizing  to  the  army  if  not  checked. 
The  men  will  come  to  think  that  illness,  real  or 
shammed,  is  the  way  to  get  home.  Already 
suspicious  rheumatic  cases  have  appeared.  Mr. 


56  THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR. 

Olmsted  remonstrates  against  the  system,  but 
of  course  lie  lias  to  act  under  the  medical  au 
thority.  What  is  wanted  is  a  large  receiving- 
hospital  in  the  rear  of  the  army,  which  would 
keep  the  cases  of  exhaustion  and  slight  illness, 
take  good  care  of  them  for  a  week  or  two,  and 
send  them  back  to  the  front.  Mr.  Olmsted  tele 
graphed  to-day,  advising  the  Surgeon-General  to 
send  sufficient  hospital  accommodation,  bedding, 
and  medicines  for  six  thousand  men.  This 
ought  to  be  done.  Meantime  we  lie  here,  and 
may  fill  this  ship,  which  is  now  all  in  order, 
to-morrow. 

Could  you  but  see  the  lovely  scene  around 
me !  We  have  had  a  little  service  of  prayer 
and  hymns  in  the  cabin,  and  now  we  are  all  — 
the  "staff,"  as  we  call  ourselves  —  sitting  at 
sunset  on  the  deck,  under  an  awning.  We  are 
anchored  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  which  is 
about  three  hundred  yards  wide  at  this  point, 
and  are  slowly  swinging  at  our  anchor.  We  have 
dropped  down  the  stream  since  morning.  Scores 
of  vessels  —  transports,  mortar-boats,  ammuni 
tion-barges — are  close  around  us,  and  several 
gunboats.  The  regiments  of  Franklin's  corps  are 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  57 

camped  along  the  banks;  the  bands  playing  on 
one  side,  "Hail  Columbia!  "  and,  farther  down, 
"  Glory,  Hallelujah !"  The  trees  which  fringe 
the  shore  lean  towards  us, —  locust,  oak,  and  the 
lovely  weeping-elm.  One  of  the  latter  throws 
its  shadow  across  my  paper  as  we  have  slowly 
swung  into  it.  I  have  told  Mr.  Olmsted  that, 
now  that  I  feel  at  home  in  the  work,  I  am  not 
tied  to  Mrs.  Griffin,  but  consider  the  protection 
of  the  Commission  sufficient,  and  that  if  he 
wants  me,  I  will  stay  by  the  work  as  long  as 
there  is  any.  I  like  him  exceedingly,  autocrat 
and  aristocrat  that  he  is ;  I  feel  that  he  would 
protect  and  guard  in  the  wisest  manner  those 
under  his  care.  The  other  gentlemen  on  board 
are  Mr.  Frederick  N.  Knapp,  second  to  Mr. 
Olmsted,  in  charge  of  the  supplies  ;  Dr.  Robert 
Ware,  chief-surgeon ;  Messrs.  Charles  Woolsey, 
George  "VVheelock,  and  David  Haight,  his  as 
sistants. 

Direct  to  me  in  future  to  the  care  of  Colonel 
Ingalls,  Quartermaster's  Department,  Army  of 
the  Potomac  —  think  of  that ! 


58  THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR. 

"  SPAULDING,"  May  20. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  It  is  so  uncertain  whether 
you  receive  any  of  my  letters  (I  receive  none 
of  yours)  that  I  write  to-day  by  the  "  Daniel 
Webster/'  though  I  have  but  little  to  say.  The 
"  Webster"  and  the  "Elm  City"  came  up  the 
river  yesterday.  We  were  invited  to  tea  on 
board  of  the  former,  and  were  much  pleased  to 
find  how  we  are  missed.  Dr.  Grymes  is  still 
in  charge  of  her,  and  Mrs.  Trotter  reigns  over 
the  women's  department  with  great  success. 
Mrs.  Strong,  Miss  Whetten,  and  Miss  Gardiner 
returned  on  the  "Elm  City."  The  "Webster  " 
came  up  in  perfect  order,  ready  to  ship  her 
men  as  soon  as  her  cargo  was  discharged. 
She  is  now  loading,  and  sails  for  Boston  this 
afternoon.  We  ourselves  remain  here.  Mr. 
Olmsted  is  anxious  to  keep  his  "  staff  "  at  the 
heels  of  the  army.  I  like  this  much  better 
myself.  It  is  more  interesting,  and  the  work, 
though  harder,  is  more  satisfactory  in  every 
'way.  The  weather  is  delightful.  At  present 
we  are  idle, — kept  so,  I  am  told,  in  reserve  for 
the  expected  battle.  The  "Elm  City"  is  to 
remain  here  as  a  receiving-ship ;  this  vessel 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  59 

(the  "  Spaulding  ")  and  the  "Daniel  Webster" 
are  to  be  used  as  ocean-transports,  and  chiefly 
for  sick  men;  the  " Knickerbocker "  and  the 
"Daniel  Webster  No.  2"  as  river-transports  for 
wounded  men,  —  "  surgical  cases,"  as  they  are 
called.  The  former  make  the  sea-passage  to 
New  York,  Boston,  or  Philadelphia ;  the  latter 
run  to  Washington  or  Fortress  Monroe.  These 
five  ships  can  transport  about  two  thousand 
men  a  week.  Mr.  Olmsted  is  struggling,  with 
probable  success,  to  bring  the  Medical  Depart 
ment  to  establish  a  large  receiving-camp-hos 
pital  for  the  lesser  cases  that  ought  not  to  go 
North.  Meantime  the  "  Elm  City "  is  to  be 
used  as  a  receiving-ship  for  them  pro  tern. 

"  SPAULDING,"  May  21. 

DEAR  FRIEND,  —  We  are  just  where  we  were, 
—  swinging  at  anchor  under  the  elm-tree,  and 
doing  nothing.  This  galls  us  a  little  ;  but,  after 
all,  we  women  are  but  a  drop  in  the  bucket  of 
relief,  every  one  on  board,  except  us,  being 
worked  to  his  very  utmost,  —  Mr.  Olmsted  in 
organizing  the  work  and  endeavoring  to  get  the 
medical  authorities  to  fall  into  some  kind  of 


60  THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR. 

system ;  Mr.  Knapp  in  getting  up  and  issuing 
supplies  ;  Dr.  Ware  and  our  young  men  in  put 
ting  a  receiving-hospital  ashore  in  something 
like  decent  order.  It  started  last  night  with 
one  hundred  tents,  twenty-five  men  in  each ; 
ambulances  coming  in  every  hour,  and  nothing 
for  the  men  but  the  bare  tents,  unfloored.  Our 
gentlemen  have  been  there  all  day ;  and  Mr. 
Knapp  has  sent  up  straw,  bed-sacks,  bedding, 
food,  and  clothing.  Mr.  Olmsted  declines  to 
let  us  women  go  there ;  I  don't  know  why. 
A  few  wounded  men  came  down  to-day,  and 
were  taken  on  board  the  "Elm  City,"  where 
Mrs.  Strong,  Miss  Whetten,  and  Miss  Gardiner 
take  care  of  them. 

Mr.  Olmsted  gave  me  to-day  a  draft  of  the 
"  Rules  "  which  he  has  drawn  up  for  the  regu 
lation  of  the  service  on  board  our  ships.  I 
inclose  a  copy,  as  it  will  give  you  a  fair  idea 
of  our  interior  system  after  the  men  come  on 
board,  and  until  they  are  landed  at  their  des 
tination.  It  reads  very  well  on  paper,  and  you 
may  be  sure  that  it  is  carried  out,  with  Mr. 
Olmsted  at  the  head  of  affairs  :  his  are  no  paper 
orders.  But  there  are  hidden  rocks  and  snags 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  61 

under  that  smooth,  surface  which  make,  in  fact, 
the  anxiety  of  our  female  lives.  For  instance  : 
our  boats  belong  to  the  Quartermaster's  Depart 
ment  ;  the  captains  and  crews  object,  as  a  gen 
eral  thing,  to  being  used  in  hospital  service,  and 
have  to  be  forever  coaxed  and  conciliated.  The 
kitchen  arrangements  are  a  never-ending  plague. 
The  cooks  and  the  galleys  are  not  looked  upon 
as  being  for  the  use  of  the  hospital,  and  yet 
there  is  no  way  of  getting  others  ;  so  they  must 
be  persuaded  to  do  the  work  which  we  have  no 
absolute  power  to  make  them  do.  The  twenty 
or  thirty  bucketsful  of  soup  daily  for  the  "house 
diet "  (the  sick  food  we  prepare  ourselves)  are 
an  achievement  if  they  are  forthcoming  at 
the  right  moment.  We  order,  make  ready, 
prepare ;  and  then  it  is  hard  to  find  that  the 
instant  our  backs  were  turned  everything  came 
to  a  standstill,  and  that  dinner  for  the  sick 
men  can't  be  ready  at  the  right  moment  with 
out  some  superhuman  exertion  on  our  parts. 
As  for  hot  water  (about  which  you  may  observe 
a  delicate  reference  in  the  "  Eules  "),  our  lives 
are  made  a  burden  to  us  on  that  subject,  and 
we  might  as  well  be  in  it  at  once,  —  if  it  could 


62  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

be  got.  You  will  see  from  my  letters  that  we 
women  do  more  than  is  set  down  for  us  in  the 
programme ;  for,  in  fact,  we  do  a  little  of  every 
thing.  We  of  the  "  staff  "  are  specially  subor 
dinate  to  Mr.  Olmsted ;  and  though  we  are  not 
his  right  hand  —  Mr.  Knapp  and  Dr.  Ware  are 
that  —  we  are  the  fingers  of  it,  and  help  to 
carry  out  his  ideas.  The  duties  of  the  men 
and  women  of  the  staff  are  chiefly  as  fol 
lows  :  to  superintend  the  shipping  of  the  sick 
or  wounded  on  board  the  boats  which  return 
from  the  North  for  fresh  loads ;  to  fit  up  those 
boats,  or  others  coming  into  the  Commission's 
hands  ;  to  receive  at  the  landing,  to  sort  and 
distribute  according  to  orders,  the  patients  who 
are  sent  down  from  the  front ;  to  feed,  cleanse, 
give  medical  aid  and  nursing  to  all  these  men, 
and  otherwise  take  care  of  them,  until  the  ships 
sail  again  for  the  North ;  and,  finally,  to  be 
ready  for  all  emergencies. 

I  think  I  have  not  yet  described  our  "  Chief  " 
to  you.  He  is  small,  and  lame  (for  the  time 
being  only)  from  a  terrible  accident  which  hap 
pened  to  him  a  few  months  ago ;  but  though  the 
lameness  is  decided,  it  is  scarcely  observable,  for 


.  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  63 

he  gives  you  a  sense  that  he  triumphs  over  it  by 
doing  as  if  it  did  not  exist.  His  face  is  gener 
ally  very  placid,  with  all  the  expressive  delicacy 
of  a  woman's,  and  would  be  beautiful  were  it 
not  for  an  expression  which  I  cannot  fathom,  — 
something  which  is,  perhaps,  a  little  too  severe 
about  it.  I  think  his  mouth  and  smile  and  the 
expression  of  his  eyes  at  times  very  beautiful. 
He  has  great  variety  of  expression :  sometimes 
stern,  thoughtful,  and  haggard;  at  other  times 
observing  and  slightly  satirical  (I  believe  he 
sees  out  of  the  back  of  his  head  occasionally) ; 
and  then  again,  and  not  seldom,  his  face  wears 
an  inspired  look,  full  of  goodness  and  power.  I 
think  he  is  a  man  of  the  most  resolute  self-will, 
—  generally  a  very  wise  will,  I  should  think ; 
born  an  autocrat,  however,  and,  as  such,  very  sat 
isfactory  to  be  under.  His  reticence  is  one  of 
his  strong  points  :  he  directs  everything  in  the 
fewest  possible  words ;  there  is  a  deep,  calm 
though tfulness  about  him  which  is  always  at 
tractive  and  sometimes  —  provoking.  He  is 
managing  the  present  enterprise  (which  is  full 
of  responsibility,  without  having  any  rights) 
with  the  largest  views  of  what  is  best  for  the 


64  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR. 

army,  and  compelling  the  acquiescence  of  the 
Military  authority  in  his  plans,  while  he  scrupu 
lously  keeps  within  the  understood  position  of 
the  Sanitary  Commission  as  subordinate  to  it. 
You  may  also  see  how  carefully  he  attends  to 
details  by  the  sketch  of  them  which  he  has 
given  in  the  "Rules."  He  is  a  great  organizer — 
as  the  past  history  of  the  Central  Park  and  the 
Sanitary  Commission  will  show  —  and  he  is  a 
great  administrator,  because  he  comprehends 
details,  but  trusts  his  subordinates :  if  they  are 
good,  he  relies  on  them ;  if  they  are  weak, 
there's  an  end  of  them. 

As  for  Mr.  Knapp,  he  is  our  delight.  A  thin, 
bald-headed  man,  with  a  flowing  brown  beard 
and  a  very  fine,  sweet,  energetic  face ;  always 
overwhelmed  with  work ;  caught  at  here,  there, 
and  everywhere  by  some  one  who  has  impor 
tant  business,  yet  able  to  give  and  take  any 
saucy  drollery  that  comes  up  between  us.  It 
is  not  easy  to  say  positively  what  he  is,  for  he 
is  never  still,  and  he  has  certainly  not  been  for 
five  consecutive  minutes  under  my  observation ; 
but  there 's  one  thing  which  my  mind  is  clear 
about :  it  shines  out  from  every  point  of  him,  — 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  65 

he  is  a  philanthropist  without  the  hateful  as 
pects  of  that  calling.  He  is  in  charge  of  the 
supply  department,  —  the  commissariat  of  the 
Commission,  as  it  may  be  called.  The  entire 
business  of  ordering  and  receiving  supplies  from 
the  North,  and  issuing  them,  when  on  hand, 
either  to  our  own  vessels  or  upon  the  requisi 
tion  of  brigade  and  regimental  surgeons  for 
camp  and  field  hospitals,  is  an  outline  of  his 
work.  He  is  always  in  a  hurry ;  he  forgets 
our  names,  and  calls  us  everything  that  we  are 
not,  but  says  it  is  "  a  system ; "  he  is  lain  in 
wait  for  at  all  corners  by  some  one  with  a  tale 
of  distress  and  a  prayer  for  stimulants,  beef- 
stock,  straw,  sheets,  bandages,  or  what  not,  all 
of  which  is  duly  given  if  the  proper  requisition 
from  a  United  States  surgeon  is  forthcoming. 
He  is  in  a  chronic  state  of  worry  about  "  trans 
portation," —  I  declare  I  think  I  hear  that 
word  oftener  than  any  other,  except  "  brandy  " 
and  "beef-tea." 

The  railroad  is  open  to-day  to  within  ten 
miles  of  Eichmond :  so  says  Colonel  Ingalls. 
The  cars  and  locomotives  came  up  the  river 
yesterday.  This  enables  them  to  send  forward 


66  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

supplies  with  great  ease.  Hitherto,  everything 
has  depended  on  wagon-trains,  half  of  which 
stick  in  the  mud  and  clay  of  Virginia  roads. 
The  one  question  asked  by  everybody  is : 
"Where's  McDowell?" 

"SPAULDING,"  May  23. 

DEAR  A.,  —  Your  welcome  letter  came  yes 
terday.  It  is  great  happiness  to  know  that  you 
enter  into  the  thing  so  heartily.  You  are 
right;  it  is  worth  five  years  of  other  life,  set 
ting  aside  the  satisfaction  of  doing  something 
directly  for  the  cause.  We  are  still  on  board 
this  ship,  comparatively  idle.  Yesterday  sixty 
men  were  sent  down  from  the  front ;  but  the 
surgeon  of  the  Shore  hospital  refused  to  take 
them,  alleging  that  he  had  no  room.  A  tre 
mendous  thunder-storm  came  up,  in  the  midst 
of  which  we  ran  up  to  the  landing-place  in  our 
little  tug,  the  "  Wissahickon,"  and  found  the 
men,  who  were  lying  on  the  ground  by  the 
side  of  the  railway.  We  gave  them  brandy 
and  water,  tea  and  bread,  washed  them  a  little, 
brought  off  a  dozen  of  the  worst  cases,  and  left 
the  others  comfortable  for  the  night,  with  blan- 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  67 

kets  and  quilts,  in  two  covered  freight-cars. 
This  morning  we  went  up  with  their  breakfast, 
and  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  them  off 
in  ambulances  for  the  Shore  hospital,  owing  to 
Mr.  Olmsted's  strong  remonstrances. 

This  vessel,  the  "  Spaulding,"  is  filling  to 
day,  and  sails  for  New  York  on  Sunday.  We 
shall  then  go  on  board  the  "  Elm  City,"  and 
the  hospital  company  of  that  boat,  including 
two  ladies,  Miss  Whetten  and  Mrs.  Strong,  will 
take  charge  of  this  one.  Mr.  Olmsted  has  the 
greatest  difficulty  in  preventing  the  authorities 
from  forcing  on  our  pity  by  their  neglect  the 
sick  men  who  are  now  here  and  coming  down 
daily.  These  men  ought  to  be  taken  care  of 
in  tents  ashore.  If  forced  upon  us  and  a  battle 
occurs,  our  boats  will  be  off  with  men  who 
ought  not  to  go,  and  we  shall  have  no  accom 
modation  for  the  wounded.  Yesterday  and  to 
day  we  have  heard  cannonading  at  the  bridge 
over  the  Chickahominy ;  and  these  slight  skir 
mishes  send  us  down  a  dozen  or  two  of  wound 
ed  daily,  who  are  placed  at  once  on  board  the 
"Elm  City." 

General  Van  Vliet,  Quartermaster-General  of 


68  THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR. 

the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  came  to  see  us  to 
day,  accompanied  by  Captain  Sawtelle,  Assist 
ant-Quartermaster.  The  General  was  full  of 
kindness  and  gallantry,  —  quite  bubbled  over 
with  it ;  and  offered  us  a  railway-car  to  take  us 
into  Richmond  as  soon  as  it  is  occupied  !  We 
heard  last  night  that  McDowell's  pickets  had 
met  ours  :  God  grant  it  may  be  true !  There  is 
little  doubt  that  McDowell's  not  being  allowed 
to  co-operate  at  Gloucester  prevented  the  over 
throw  of  the  Rebellion  at  Yorktown ;  and  yet 
this  McClellan  keeps  on  with  a  sunny  heart, 
and,  as  General  Franklin  said,  "does  his  best 
alone !  " 

On  "Wednesday  we  were  invited  on  board  the 
"  Sebago,"  Captain  Murray.  A  gun-boat  is 
very  interesting.  She  carries  two  large  guns 
and  a  few  howitzers.  The  large  guns  (Parrotts, 
these  were)  stand  in  the  middle  of  the  deck, 
one  aft,  and  the  other  forward,  and  turn  on 
pivots  in  every  direction.  The  bulwarks  can 
be  turned  down,  to  allow  the  guns  free  range ; 
they  are  turned  up  for  a  sea- voyage :  but  even 
then  these  boats  ship  a  great  deal  of  water. 
It  was  delightful  to  be  on  a  trig  man-of-war. 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  69 

The  officers  seemed  so  clean  and  fresh,  after  the 
dusty,  thread-worn  look  of  the  army-officers. 
It  is  easy  to  keep  neat  on  board  ship,  but 
very  hard  to  do  it  on  the  march,  especially 
through  the  red  clay  soil  of  Virginia.  The 
"  Sebago  "  was  the  gun-boat  which,  accompa 
nied  by  a  tiny  propeller  with  one  hundred  and 
fifty  infantry  on  board,  ran  a  few  miles  farther 
up  the  Pamunky  the  other  day,  —  at  sight  of 
which  the  enemy  burned  two  steamers  and 
twenty  schooners. 

Not  much  has  happened  to  interest  us  out  of 
our  own  world.  To  us  the  arrival  of  our  various 
steamers,  and  the  consequent  visits,  inquiries, 
and  thefts,  are  matters  of  great  importance.  We 
go  on  board  some  newly  arrived  ship,  and  find 
up  the  parties  in  charge  of  the  invoice:  " Six 
teen  pails  !  we  '11  take  eight ;  "  "  Essence  of 
beef!  we  want  all  that ;"  "What!  fifty  cans?" 
"  Fifty  !  we  must  have  a  hundred,"  —  and  so 
on  through  sugar,  arrowroot,  farina,  spices, 
lemons,  whiskey,  brandy,  etc. ;  while  the  doc 
tors  make  a  raid  of  the  same  kind  on  the  dis 
pensary.  Kleptomania  is  the  prevailing  disease 
among  us.  We  think  nothing  of  watching  the 


70  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR. 

proprietor  of  some  nicety  out  of  the  way,  and 
then  pocketing  the  article.  'After  such  a  visit, 
Georgy's  unfathomable  pocket  is  a  mine  of 
wealth  as  to  nutmeg-graters,  corkscrews,  forks 
and  spoons,  and  such  articles.  I,  being  less 
nimble  at  pilfering,  content  myself  by  carrying 
off  tin  pails  with  an  abstracted  air.  Perhaps 
our  visits  do  not  give  the  keen  satisfaction  to 
others  that  they  do  to  us.  But  they  are  going 
back  where  they  can  get  more;  while  to  us  who 
remain  here,  such  articles  are  as  precious  as  if 
they  were  made  of  gold. 

I  am  perfectly  well.  To  please  others,  I  "  pro- 
phylac  "  with  the  rest.  I  drink  coffee  in  excess, 
and  whiskey  (with  quinine)  occasionally,  and 
eat  alarming  dinners.  We  shall  be  thankful  to 
get  off  this  ship,  where  we  have  green  velvet 
chairs  to  sit  upon,  and  are  unable  to  get  proper 
cooking  arrangements  for  the  sick.  We  regret 
our  dear  "  Wilson  Small,"  where  we  lived  on  a 
permanent  picnic,  which  was  in  keeping  with 
our  business  and  our  spirit. 

To-day  Mr.  Olmsted  invited  Mrs.  Griffin  and 
me  to  row  with  him  along  the  shore.  You 
know  I  dread  little  boats  ;  but  it  was  a  prospect 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  71 

of  enjoyment,  and  I  could  not  forego  it.  The 
start  was  lovely.  Mr.  Olmsted  rowed  us  close 
in  shore,  where  ,the  knotted  roots  of  the  outer 
most  trees  made  a  network,  or  paling,  behind 
which  drooped  or  glowed  in  their  spring  beauty 
the  lovely  trees  of  this  region,  among  them  the 
magnolia,  the  flowering  catalpa,  and  the  beau 
tiful  white  fringe-tree.  Presently  some  quar 
termaster  hailed  us,  and  we  turned  back  to  the 
"  Spaulding,"  which  had  swung  to  her  anchor 
in  the  mean  time,  making  the  business  of  getting 
on  board  again  so  dreadful  to  me  (Mrs.  Griffin 
did  not  seem  to  mind  it)  that  that  moment  is 
laid  aside  to  come  into  play  some  day  when  I 
have  brain-fever;  and  then  I  shall  see  the  huge, 
black,  bulging  sides  of  the  great  ship  hanging 
over  me  as  I  pop  up  and  down  in  a  paper  boat. 

Mrs.  Griffin  looked  to-day  so  like  a  mediaeval 
Madonna,  with  her  heavenly  complexion,  her 
golden  hair,  and  the  extremely  angular  appear 
ance  which  we  persist  in  keeping  up  without 
our  hoops,  that  I  was  forced  to  suggest  the 
idea  to  Mr.  Olmsted,  who  entered  thoroughly 
into  it. 


72  THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR. 

"SPAULDING,"  May  24. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  I  seize  five  spare  moments 
for  you,  as  I  have  not  written  for  three  days. 
Last  night  we  half  filled  this  ship  with  the 
worst  cases  from  the  shore  hospital.  She  will 
probably  fill  up  to-day  from  the  "  Elm  City," 
and  sail  to-morrow.  The  men  are  mostly  very 
sick,  but  no  deaths  occurred  last  night.  Oh  ! 
what  stories  I  shall  have  to  tell  you  one  of 
these  days.  Instances  of  such  high  unselfish 
ness  happen  daily  that,  though  I  forget  them 
daily,  I  feel  myself  strengthened  in  my  trust  in 
human  nature,  without  making  any  reflections 
about  it.  Last  night  a  wounded  man,  comfort 
ably  put  to  bed  in  a  middle  berth  (there  are 
three  tiers,  and  the  middle  one  incomparably 
the  best),  seeing  me  point  to  the  upper  berth  as 
the  place  to  put  a  man  on  an  approaching 
stretcher,  cried  out:  "Stop!  put  me  up  there. 
Guess  I  can  stand  h'isting  better  'n  hi?n."  It 
was  agony  to  both. 

There  is  great  discussion  among  the  doctors 
as  to  the  character  of  the  fever ;  some  call  it  ty 
phoid,  others  say  it  is  losing  that  type  and  be 
coming  malarial  remittent.  It  matters  little  to 


THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  73 

me  what  it  is  ;  the  poor  fellows  all  look  alike,  — 
dry,  burned-up,  baked,  either  in  a  dull  stupor  or 
a  low,  anxious  delirium.  They  show  little  or  no 
excitement,  but  are  dull,  weary,  and  sad.  The 
percentage  of  sickness  is  thought  to  be  small  for 
an  army  on  the  march  through  such  a  region.1 

1  The  death-rate  of  the  British  forces  during  the  first  year  of 
the  Crimean  War  was  :  July,  August,  September,  1854,  293  per 
1000  men;  October,  November,  December,  511  per  1000  men; 
reaching  in  January,  1855,  the  fearful  rate  of  1174  per  1000 
men,  of  which  97  per  cent  was  from  disease,  —  in  other  words,  a 
rate  at  which  it  would  be  necessary  to  replace  a  dead  army  by  a  liv 
ing  one  in  10^  months.  Then  it  was  that  the  British  Government 
established  sanitary  operations  ;  and  as  soon  as  their  influence 
was  felt  —  May,  June,  July,  1855  —  the  death-rate  fell  to  250  per 
1000,  and  from  that  time  rapidly  diminished,  till  in  January,  1856 
(one  year  from  its  culmination),  it  was  25  per  1000  men.  The 
mortality  of  the  United  States  army  during  the  campaign  in  Vir 
ginia  of  1862  was  165  per  1000  men.  To  what  was  this  differ 
ence  owing  V  Not  to  the  fact  that  our  troops  brought  a  greater 
amount  of  health  into  the  service,  for  their  mortality  during  the 
preceding  period  of  inaction  was  much  greater  than  that  of  the 
British  army  during  a  like  period.  It  was  owing  in  part,  un 
doubtedly,  to  lessons  learned  from  the  Crimean  War;  but  it  was 
also  in  a  great  degree  owing  to  the  Sanitary  Commission,  to  its 
careful  inspection  of  recruits,  camps,  regiments,  and  to  the  advice 
which  the  military  authorities  so  -wisely  allowed  it  to  give  on  all 
sanitary  and  hygienic  subjects  to  the  regimental  commanders. 
Surely  the  Commission  has  a  right  to  point  to  the  comparatively 
small  mortality  of  our  forces  (small  when  we  consider  the  nature 
of  the  climate  and  the  unseasoned  condition  of  volunteers),  and 
claim  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  credit  of  it. 


74  THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

We  are  all  well,  and  cheerful  now  that  our 
work  begins  once  more.  Idleness  depressed  us 
a  little.  We  now  have  over  one  hundred  very 
sick  men  on  board.  Mrs.  Griffin  and  I  have 
just  finished  our  morning's  work  below;  Mrs. 
M.  and  Georgy  have  taken  our  places,  and  we 
have  come  on  deck  for  a  mouthful  of  fresh 
air.  This  morning,  before  I  was  up,  I  heard  a 
crash  and  a  cry,  and  the  bowsprit  of  a  large 
vessel,  which  the  tide  had  swung  upon  us, 
glanced  into  the  port-hole  at  the  foot  of  my  bed, 
tore  through  the  partition,  and,  I  believe,  demol 
ished  the  berth  on  the  other  side  of  it.  The 
captain,  who  takes  great  pride  in  his  ship,  and 
has  employed  these  leisure  days  in  getting  her 
painted,  is  now  leaning  over  the  side,  looking 
at  the  defaced  and  splintered  wood- work  with  a 
melancholy  air. 

Good-by.     Called  off. 

"KNICKERBOCKER,"  May  26. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  I  believe  my  last  words  on 
Saturday  were  that  I  was  "called  off,"  —  and 
so  effectually  called  that  this  is  my  first  quiet 
moment  since  then.  We  were  called  to  go  on 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  75 

board  the  "  Wissahickon,"  from  thence  to  the 
"  Sea-Shore/'  and  run  down  in  the  latter  to 
West  Point,  to  bring  off  twenty-five  men  said 
to  be  lying  there  sick  and  destitute.  Two  doc 
tors  went  with  us.  After  hunting  an  hour 
through  the  fleet  for  the  "  Sea-Shore  "  in  vain, 
and  having  got  as  low  as  Cumberland,  we  de 
cided  (we  being  Mrs.  Griffin  and  I ;  for  the  doc 
tors  were  new  to  the  work,  and  glad  to  leave 
the  responsibility  upon  us  women)  to  push  on  in 
the  tug,  rather  than  leave  the  men  another 
night  on  the  ground,  for  a  heavy  storm  of  wind 
and  rain  had  been  going  on  all  day.  The  pilot 
remonstrated,  but  the  captain  approved ;  and 
if  the  firemen  had  not  suddenly  let  out  the 
fires  and  detained  us  two  hours,  we  might  have 
got  our  men  on  board  and  returned  comfort 
ably  soon  after  dark.  But  the  delay  cost  us 
the  precious  daylight.  It  was  night  before  the 
last  man  was  got  on  board.  There  were  fifty- 
six  of  them,  —  ten  very  sick  ones. 

The  boat  had  a  little  shelter-cabin.  As  we 
were  laying  mattresses  on  the  floor,  while  the 
doctors  were  finding  the  men,  the  captain 
stopped  us,  refusing  to  let  us  put  typhoid  fever 


76  THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR. 

cases  below  the  deck,  —  on  account  of  the  crew, 
he  said,  —  and  threatening  to  push  off  at  once 
from  the  shore.  Mrs.  Griffin  and  I  looked  at 
him.  I  did  the  terrible,  and  she  the  pathetic ; 
and  he  abandoned  the  contest.  The  return  pas 
sage  was  rather  an  anxious  one.  The  river  is 
much  obstructed  with  sunken  ships  and  trees,  and 
we  had  to  feel  our  way,  slackening  speed  every 
ten  minutes.  If  \ve  had  been  alone,  it  would 
not  have  mattered ;  but  to  have  fifty  men  upon 
our  hands  unable  to  move  wras  too  heavy  a  re 
sponsibility  not  to  make  us  anxious.  The  cap 
tain  and  pilot  said  the  boat  was  leaking  (we 
heard  the  water  gurgling  under  our  feet),  and 
they  remarked  casually  that  the  river  was 
"  four  fathoms  deep  about  there ; "  but  we  saw 
their  motive,  and  were  not  scared.  We  were 
safe  alongside  the  "  Spaulding  "  by  midnight ; 
but  Mr.  Olmsted's  tone  of  voice  as  he  said, 
"  You  don't  know  how  glad  I  am  to  see  you," 
showed  how  much  he  had  been  worried.  And 
yet  it  was  the  best  thing  we  could  have  done, 
for  three,  perhaps  five,  of  the  men  would  have 
been  dead  before  morning.  We  transferred  the 
deck-men  (who  were  not  very  ill)  at  once  to 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  77 

the  "  Elm  City/'  and  kept  the  others  on  board 
the  tug  till  the  next  morning  (Sunday),  when 
they  were  taken  on  board  the  "  Spaulding,"  all 
living,  and  likely  to  live.  Later  in  the  day 
the  "  Spaulding "  filled  up  to  three  hundred 
and  fifty  very  sick  men. 

No  one  who  has  not  shared  them  can  form 
any  idea  of  the  hurry  —  unless  it  is  kept  down 
by  extreme  quiet  of  manner  —  and  the  solid 
hard  work  caused  by  this  sudden  influx  of  bad 
cases.  Dr.  Grymes  taught  me  a  valuable  lesson 
the  night  I  was  at  Yorktown  on  the  "  Web 
ster."  A  man  with  a  ghastly  wound  —  the 
first  I  ever  saw  —  asked  for  something ;  I 
turned  hastily  to  get  it,  with  some  sort  of 
exclamation.  Dr.  Grymes  stopped  me  and  said  : 
"  Never  do  that  again ;  never  be  hurried  or  ex 
cited,  or  you  are  not  fit  to  be  here ; "  and  I  've 
thanked  him  for  that  lesson  ever  since.  It  is  a 
piteous  sight  to  see  these  men ;  no  one  knows 
what  war  is  until  they  see  this  black  side  of 
it.  We  may  all  sentimentalize  over  its  possi 
bilities  as  we  see  the  regiments  go  off,  or  when 
we  hear  of  a  battle ;  but  it  is  as  far  from  the 
reality  as  to  read  of  pain  is  far  from  feeling 


78  THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

it.  We  who  are  here,  however,  dare  not  let 
our  minds,  much  less  our  imaginations,  rest  on 
suffering;  while  you  must  rely  on  your  imag 
ination  to  project  you  into  the  state  of  things 
here. 

At  eleven  o'clock  (Sunday  night),  just  as  I  had 
collected  the  weary  in  the  pantry  for  a  little 
claret-punch  or  brandy  and  water,  after  getting 
on  what  we  thought  the  last  man  for  the  night, 
Captain  Sawtelle  came  on  board  looking  very 
sad.  He  had  received  orders  to  send  every 
available  "transport  to  Acquia  Creek.  He  told 
us  that  General  Banks  had  been  defeated,  with 
the  loss  of  two  regiments ;  and  he  presumed  the 
present  order  meant  that  a  force  was  to  be 
thrown  back  to  guard  "Washington,  and  that 
McDowell  was  recalled  to  support  Banks.  Sad, 
sad  news  for  us ! 

Of  course  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but 
to  give  up  the  "  Elm  City  "  and  get  the  men 
and  stores  out  of  her  and  into  the  "Spaulding  " 
at  once.  The  transports  were  to  sail  for  Ac 
quia  Creek  at  3  A.  M.,  and  had  to  be  coaled  in 
the  mean  time.  So  we  went  to  work  again. 
Poor  weary  Mr.  Knapp  was  off  at  once  ;  the 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF  WAR.  79 

weary  doctors  and  the  weary  young  men  be 
gan  once  more  the  work  of  hoisting  on  board, 
classing,  registering,  and  bunking  the  poor  fel 
lows, — ninety  in  all;  while  the  weary  women 
brewed  more  milk-punch  and  beef-tea,  and  went 
once  more  upon  their  rounds.  The  last  things 
were  got  off  the  "Elm  City"  about  2.30  A.  M., 
when  a  telegram  arrived  countermanding  the 
order ! 

I  can  give  you  no  idea  of  the  work  thus  ac 
cumulated  into  one  day.  But  there  were  cheer 
ful  things  in  it  after  all.  One  thing  I  specially 
remember.  A  man  very  low  with  typhoid 
fever  had  been  brought  on  board  early  in  the 
afternoon,  and  begged  me  piteously  to  keep  the 
bunk  next  him  for  his  brother,  —  his  twin 
brother,  —  from  whom  he  had  never  been  parted 
in  his  life,  not  even  now  in  sickness ;  for  his 
brother  was  sick  too,  and  had  come  down  on  the 
same  train.  But,  alas  !  in  shipping  the  poor  help 
less  fellows  they  had  got  separated.  Of  course  I 
kept  the  next  bunk  empty,  even  taking  out  of 
it  a  man  who  had  been  put  in  during  my  ab 
sence  ;  and  all  day  long  the  painful  look  in  the 
anxious  eyes  distressed  me.  Late  at  night,  as 


80  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

the  last  men  were  coming  off  the  "Elm  City," 
and  I  was  standing  at  the  gangway  by  Dr. 
Draper,  receiving  his  orders  as  he  looked  at  the 
men  when  they  came  on  board,  I  heard  him 
read  off  the  name  of  the  brother  !  You  may 
be  sure  I  asked  for  that  man  ;  and  the  pleasure 
of  putting  him  beside  his  brother  cheered  even 
that  black  night.  Nor  shall  I  ever  forget  the 
joy  of  a  father  who  found  his  son  on  board,  and, 
though  ill  himself,  waited  on  him  with  infinite 
tenderness,  —  only,  alas  !  to  lose  him  soon. 

What  a  day  it  was,  —  and  a  Sunday  too !  So 
unlike  Sunday  that  I  had  forgotten  it  until  we 
were  asked  to  go  ashore  and  be  present  at  the 
funeral  of  five  men  who  had  died  on  board. 
Mrs.  Griffin  went;  but  one  lady  was  all  that 
could  be  spared.  What  days  our  Sundays  have 
been  !  I  think  of  you  all  at  rest,  with  the 
sound  of  church-bells  in  your  ears,  with  a 
strange,  distant  feeling. 

We  got  to  bed  about  3  o'clock,  and  at  4.30 
the  ladies  from  the  "Elm  City,"  Mrs.  George 
T.  Strong  and  Miss  Whetten,  who  take  the 
"  Spaulding "  to  New  York,  came  on  board 
and  shared  our  staterooms.  We  left  the  ship 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  81 

just  before  she  started,  with  three  hundred  and 
fifty  men  on  board,  at  12  M.  this  (Monday) 
morning,  and  came  on  board  the  "  Knicker 
bocker."  We  let  her  go  with  cheers  from  this 
vessel.  She  looked  beautiful  with  her  black  hull 
and  much  brass  about  her ;  but  she  is  not  well 
adapted  for  our  work.  I  had  a  strange  feeling 
as  I  looked  at  the  outside  of  what  I  knew  but 
too  well  within. 

At  present  we  shall  remain  quietly  on  this 
vessel.  There  are  fifty  sick  men  on  board, 
brought  from  the  "  Elm  City  "  last  night ;  but 
there  are  ladies  enough  belonging  to  the  ship, 
and  we  need  rest  for  the  battle  which  they  say 
is  just  at  hand. 

There  was  some  excitement  and  a  great  gath 
ering  of  doctors  to-day  for  a  post-mortem  on 
board  the  "Elm  City/' and  they  found  what 
they  call  "mulberry  spots/'  —  which  establish,  I 
am  told,  the  typhoid  character  of  the  disease.1 

A  good  many  wounded  are  now  coming  on 
board  and  filling  the  cots  on  the  main-deck.  I 

1  The  disease  proved,  in  the  hospitals  at  Fortress  Monroe,  to 
be  an  epidemic  typhus  or  spotted  fever,  now  called  cerebro-spinal 
meningitis.  a  modern  edition  of  the  ancient  plague. 

6 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

am  writing  in  the  upper  saloon,  listening  to  the 
typhoid  moans  of  a  poor  fellow  at  my  elbow. 
But  I  am  too  inexpressibly  weary  to  keep  my 
eyes  open  a  moment  longer.  I  need  not  tell 
you  that  I  am  well  as  ever,  only  so  sleepy,  oh, 
so  sleepy !  Yesterday,  Captain  Murray,  of  the 
"  Sebago,"  and  General  Van  Vliet  came  to  see 
us  ;  but  of  course  we  could  not  see  them. 
Oh,  these  Sanitary  Commission  men,  how  they 
work,  —  early  and  late,  sleepless,  unflagging ! 
Even  as  I  write,  come  Dr.  Ware  and  David 
Haight,  —  dragging  a  bed-sack  which  they  have 
filled  with  fresh  straw  for  me,  because  they 
found  out  that  the  one  I  have  was  last  used  by 
a  patient  with  typhoid  fever.  Kind  friends ! 
Oh,  how  well  I  shall  sleep  to-night  ! 

"  KNICKERBOCKER,"  May  27. 

DEAR  A.,  —  I  wish  I  could  have  you  by  me  this 
delightful  afternoon  to  look  at  the  lovely  scene, 
where  "  every  prospect  pleases,  and  only  man  is 
vile  "  and  wretched.  The  "  Spaulding  "  got  off 
yesterday  with  three  hundred  and  fifty  sick  on 
board,  and  we  then  transferred  ourselves  to  this 
vessel,  where  we  are  living  a  life  which  Mr. 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  83 

Olmsted  feels  to  be  one  of  such  utter  discomfort 
that  we  all  try  to  make  the  best  of  it  for  his 
sake.  Still,  I  will  admit  to  you  that  it  is  wear 
ing  to  have  no  proper  place  to  eat,  sit,  or  sleep. 
No  matter !  our  dear  "  Wilson  Small "  will  be 
back  soon,  and  we  shall  go  back  to  our  happy 
home  life  on  the  top  of  the  old  stove. 

This  boat  is  in  disorder.  Her  last  voyage 
was  made  in  incompetent  hands,  —  not  in 
competent  as  to  care  of  the  patients,  but  as  to 
general  organization.  These  parties  are  about 
to  be  detailed  elsewhere,  which  will  leave  us 
free  to  go  to  work  and  reorganize  the  vessel. 
Meantime  we  are  busy  arranging  the  "  Elm 
City,"  which  lies  alongside,  and  was  not  taken 
by  the  Government  after  all. 

We  were  invited  to  dine  to-day  on  board  the 
"  Webster,"  which  arrived  this  morning,  prompt 
as  usual,  and  in  perfect  order.  The  rest  have 
gone ;  but  I,  like  a  fool,  am  hors  de  combat  with 
an  aggravating  pain  down  my  leg.  We  all  "pro- 
phylac "  with  exemplary  regularity ;  the  last 
words  of  our  delightful  Dr.  Draper,  as  we 
parted  from  him  on  the  gang-plank  of  the 
"  Spaulding,"  were :  "  Don't  forget  your  qui- 


84  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

nine!"  How  intimate  this  life  makes  us  with 
those  we  recognize  as  true  grit ;  how  heartfelt 
our  greetings  and  our  partings  with  them  are ! 
Dr.  Grymes  and  Captain  Bletham  brought  me  all 
my  precious  cases  filled  with  supplies  from  dear 
Newport  friends.  The  Captain  says  his  first 
thought  on  arriving  is  :  "  Now  for  the  ladies' 
cases ;  "  and  he  always  brings  them  off  in  the 
first  boat.  This  vessel  ("Knickerbocker")  is 
full  of  Zouaves,  detailed  to  the  Commission  for 
nurses.  I  can't  endure  them.  It  might  be  all 
very  well,  and  in  keeping,  to  get  up  a  regiment 
of  negroes  en  Turcos  ;  but  for  an  American  citi 
zen  to  rig  himself  as  an  Arab  is  demoralizing. 

Wednesday  Night,  May  28. 

Have  nearly  finished  the  "Elm  City,"  with 
five  hundred  beds.  Our  linen-closets,  store-clos 
ets,  and  pantries  in  perfect  order.  The  hardest 
piece  of  work  I  have  done  yet  was  to  keep  two 
colored  ladies  (from  the  Lee  estate)  steady  to 
the  work  of  scrubbing  the  lower  deck.  They 
escaped  so  many  times  on  pretence  of  getting 
fresh  water  that,  weary  of  running  after  them, 
I  came  to  think  it  was  easier  to  run  after  the 


THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  85 

water ;  so,  pressing  David  Haight  into  the  ser 
vice,  he  and  I  kept  up  a  solemn  procession  to 
and  from  the  ship's  boilers,  bearing  the  steaming 
buckets. 

Mrs.  Reading,  an  excellent  surgical  nurse 
trained  in  the  Crimea  under  Miss  Nightingale, 
who  has  been  attached  to  the  "  staff "  from 
the  beginning,  went  up  to  the  Shore  hospital 
to-day.  Mr.  Olmsted  has  promised,  with  great 
reluctance  which  I  do  not  comprehend,  to  let 
me  go  to-morrow;  so  we  are  to  start  early, 
with  as  much  beef-stock,  stimulants,  and  other 
supplies  as  we  can  carry.  Mrs.  Reading  has 
taught  me  a  great  many  things.  I  pump  her 
extensively  in  our  leisure  moments.  She  was 
at  Kulali  throughout  the  Russian  War. 

"KNICKERBOCKER,"  May  30. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  -  -  Yesterday  I  took  Mrs. 
Reading  and  two  Zouaves  to  carry  the  sup 
plies,  and  spent  the  day  at  the  camp  hospital. 
There  are  one  hundred  tents,  each  cense  to  hold 
twenty-seven  persons;  but  they  were  not  more 
than  half  full,  many  of  the  first  set  of  men  hav 
ing  recovered  after  a  week's  rest  and  returned 


86  THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF   WAR. 

to  the  front,  while  nearly  two  hundred  of  the 
worst  cases  went  North  on  the  "  Spaulding."  I 
found  the  condition  of  things  far  better  than 
I  expected,  and  infinitely  better  than  it  was  a 
week  ago.  We  visited  nearly  all  the  tents,  and 
gave  supplies  of  beef-tea,  milk-punch,  arrowroot, 
and  eggs  for  the  worst  cases,  of  which  there 
were  comparatively  few,  for  such  cases  are  put 
on  the  Commission  boats.  I  found  four  or  five 
men  for  whom  nothing  could  be  done  but  to 
help  them  to  die  in  peace,  and  perhaps  twenty 
other  bad  cases.  The  remainder  needed  little 
more  than  a  week  or  two  of  rest.  The  tents 
wrere  both  floored  and  trenched,  the  day  was 
cool  and  bright,  everything  smelt  clean  and 
wholesome.  A  tent  had  been  pitched  for  me 
in  the  middle  of  the  hollow  square  of  the  camp, 
where  I  cooked  painfully  by  one  small  spirit- 
lamp.  We  used  up  everything  we  took  with 
us,  and  saw  the  surgeons,  who  were  very  cordial, 
particularly  Dr.  Green,  of  Massachusetts,  and  a 
lesser  light,  Dr.  A.  A.  Stocker,  of  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  who  gave  me  his  card,  whereby  I  know 
his  name. 

Nearly  all  the   camp   needs  is  some   respon- 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  87 

sible  person  who  could  prepare  the  sick  food 
systematically  under  the  surgeons'  orders. 
The  ordinary  diet  seemed  good  and  plentiful, 
and  quite  suited  to  the  majority  of  the  cases. 
We  started  for  home  at  4  p.  M.,  and  found  four 
hundred  prisoners  just  arriving  by  the  railway 
from  General  Porter's  command.  They  were 
nearly  all  North  Carolinians,  — fine-looking  men, 
well  fed,  and  in  good  spirits.  One  man  wanted 
to  buy  one  of  our  tin  cups;  I  laughed,  and  gave 
it  to  him.  Another  asked  Dr.  Ware  to  change 
a  ten-dollar  Confederate  note,  and  expected  ten 
of  our  dollars  for  it.  Dr.  Ware  said :  "  If  we 
beat  you,  what  good  will  those  notes  be  to 
you?"  "Oh!"  said  he,  "the  United  States 
Government  will  take  them."  General  Van 
Vliet  told  me  that  a  great  many  of  these  men 
had  asked  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance. 

This  has  been  a  busy  day.  We  all  —  "  all "  this 
time  means  Mr.  Olmsted,  Mr.  Knapp,  we  four 
ladies,  and  Mrs.  Beading  — started  with  breakfast 
for  eighty  men  ;  a  young  surgeon  having  rowed 
down  to  us  to  report  that  they  had  arrived  in 
the  night  and  were  lying  in  the  cars  without 
food.  We  found  the  birds  flown,  however,  —  I 


THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR. 

suppose  to  the  camp  hospital.  But  General 
Van  Vliet  and  some  telegrams  from  the  front 
met  us  at  the  landing;  and  the  result  is  that 
we  are  to  clear  off,  as  fast  as  we  can,  all  the 
sick  and  wounded  now  on  our  hands.  The 
"  Webster/'  fills  up  to-morrow ;  the  "  Daniel 
Webster  No.  2  "  left  immediately  for  Yorktown 
with  four  hundred  sick  on  board;  the  "Elm 
City"  will  fill  to-night,  and  sail  at  daybreak. 
We  ourselves  came  back  at  once  to  the  "  Knick 
erbocker/'  from  which  the  sick  men  have  been 
removed,  and  we  have  been  all  day  unpacking 
and  arranging  stores,  and  getting  pantries  and 
closets  in  order.  I  am  writing  on  the  floor, 
interrupted  constantly  to  join  in  a  laugh. 
Georgy  is  sorting  socks  and  pulling  out  the 
funny  little  balls  of  yarn  and  the  big  darning- 
needles  stuck  in  the  toes,  with  which  she  is 
making  a  fringe  across  my  back.  Do  spare  us 
the  darning-needles !  Reflect  upon  us  rushing 
in  haste  to  the  linen-closet  and  plunging  our 
hands  into  the  bale  of  stockings !  I  certainly 
shall  make  a  collection  of  sanitary  clothing.  I 
solemnly  aver  that  yesterday  I  found  a  pair  of 
drawers  made  for  a  case  of  amputation  at  the 


THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  89 

thigh.  And  the  slippers,  —  only  fit  for  pontoon- 
bridges  !  We  are  at  last  in  perfect  order,  and 
are  told  that  the  wounded  will  arrive  about 
4  A.  M.;  —  such  a  nice,  comfortable  hour  !  There 
are  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  come  down, — 
mostly  from  Hanover  Court-House,  where  Gen 
eral  Porter  had  a  brilliant  success  on  Friday. 

The  Sanitary  Commission  is  not  treated  in 
the  handsomest  manner;  its  benevolence  is 
imposed  upon.  Squads  of  civilian  doctors  are 
here,  waiting  about  for  "surgical  cases."  There 
must  be  dozens  of  them  doing  nothing,  and 
their  boats  doing  nothing,  —  waiting  for  a  bat 
tle.  They  would  not  look  at  a  sick  man ;  bless, 
you,  he's  not  their  game!  It  is  "cases"  they 
want ;  and  their  whole  influence  goes  to  getting 
off  the  sick  upon  the  Commission,  instead  of 
taking  their  proper  share  of  the  work,  so  that 
they  may,  when  a  battle  occurs,  get  a  harvest 
of  wounded.  Now  the  reason  why  we  complain 
of  this  is  that  Mr.  Olmsted  is  anxious  to  keep 
his  ships  (which  are  perfectly  organized  and 
well-managed)  running  in  a  regular  manner, 
so  that  if  a  battle  occurs,  he  may  be  prepared 
for  it.  If  he  is  overwhelmed  with  the  sick 


90  THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR. 

(who  could  be  easily  and  regularly  transported 
if  all  did  their  share),  he  is  liable  to  be  un 
prepared  for  an  emergency;  and  if  the  Com 
mission  is  unprepared,  I  am  afraid  it  will  go 
hard  with  the  poor  fellows  when  the  evil  day 
comes. 

Since  I  began  this  page  a  furious  gust  or 
storm  of  wind,  rain,  thunder,  and  lightning 
has  come  up.  We  are  plunging  up  and  down 
at  our  anchor  on  the  sweet  river  as  if  it  were 
mid-ocean ;  and  in  the  midst  of  it  the  dear 
"  Wilson  Small "  tumbles  up  alongside,  true  to 
her  colliding  principles.  Alas  for  the  wounded 
who  are  on  their  way  to  us  ! 

Our  evenings  are  the  pleasantest  hours  of  the 
day.  The  Chief  and  Mr.  Knapp  and  the  staff 
collect  on  a  broken  chair,  a  bed-sack,  and  sun 
dry  carpet-bags,  and  have  their  modicum  of 
fun  and  quinine.  The  person  who  possesses 
a  dainty  —  chocolate  or  gingerbread,  for  in 
stance  —  is  the  hero  for  the  time  being. 

Good-by  !  The  storm  is  just  going  over.  Oh, 
how  good  it  will  be  to  sleep  in  a  bed  once 
more  !  I  found  to-day  one  of  the  bed-sacks  we 
made  in  such  a  hurry  last  autumn;  and  in 


THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR.  91 

unpacking  stores  I  have  several  times  come 
across  packages  labelled  in  my  handwriting. 
Tell  this  to  the  Women's  Aid  Society.  Tell 
them  also  that  flannel  shirts  are  never  in  suf 
ficient  quantity ;  the  flannel  can  be  heavier 
and  coarser  than  what  we  have  hitherto  used. 
Socks  are  always  wanted.  Gray  and  red  flan 
nel  shirts  are  precious;  we  keep  them  for 
special  cases.  If  anybody  proposes  to  send  me 
anything,  say :  Good  brandy ;  gray,  white,  or 
red  shirts,  army  pattern;  canton  flannel  drawers, 
not  too  large ;  pocket-handkerchiefs  (boxes  of 
spotted  ones  can  be  bought  cheap  in  New 
York),  towels,  nutmegs,  bay-water,  coarse  flan 
nel  in  the  piece,  Muringer's  beef -extract,  —  this 
is  precious  as  gold  to  us;  Soyer's  and  other 
soup  preparations  are  comparatively  worthless 
for  our  purpose.  We  have  plenty  of  fresh 
beef  for  the  "house  diet,"  and  we  make  a  good 
deal  of  our  beef-tea  out  of  it  with  muriatic  acid ; 
but  even  that  takes  time.  What  we  want  is 
something  available  at  a  moment's  notice  ;  there 
fore  send  Muringer's  beef-extract.  It  comes  in 
small  cakes  looking  like  a  dark  glue.  Send  also 
condensed  milk,  lemons,  and  sherry. 


92  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

If  gentlemen  ask  what  they  shall  send,  say 
MONEY  to  the  treasury  of  the  Sanitary  Com 
mission. 

"  KNICKERBOCKER,"  May  31. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  The  long  letter  now  en 
closed  I  was  too  utterly  tired  out  to  carry  even 
the  length  of  the  ward  to  post  last  night.  As 
I  finished  it,  two  steamers  came  alongside,  each 
with  a  hundred  sick  on  board,  bringing  word 
that  the  "  Louisiana "  (a  side-wheel  vessel,  not 
a  Commission-boat)  was  aground  at  a  little  dis 
tance,  with  two  hundred  more,  having  no  one 
in  charge  of  them  and  nothing  to  eat.  Of 
course  they  had  to  be  attended  to.  So,  amid 
the  wildest  and  most  beautiful  storm  of  thunder 
and  lightning,  Georgy,  Dr.  Ware,  Mrs.  Reading, 
and  I  pulled  off  to  her  in  a  little  boat  with  tea, 
bread,  brandy,  and  beef-essence.  (No  one  can 
tell  how  it  tries  my  nerves  to  go  toppling  round 
at  night  in  little  boats,  and  clambering  up  ships' 
sides  on  little  ladders  !  )  We  fed  them,  —  the 
usual  process,  —  poor  fellows,  they  were  so 
crazy.  Dr.  Ware  says  I  have  particular  luck 
with  delirium,  and  he  made  me  try  my  hand 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  93 

on  a  man  with  whom  he  could  do  nothing, 
and  I  succeeded. 

Soon  after,  the  "  Wissahickon "  came  along 
side  to  transfer  the  men  to  the  "Elm  City." 
Only  part  could  go  in  the  first  load.  Dr.  Ware 
made  me  go  in  her  to  avoid  returning  in  the  little 
boat.  Just  as  we  pushed  off,  the  steam  gave 
out,  and  we  drifted  stem-on  to  the  shore.  Then 
a  boat  had  to  put  off  from  the  "Elm  City" 
with  a  line  to  tow  us  up.  All  this  time  the 
thunder  was  incessant,  the  rain  falling  in  tor 
rents,  while  every  second  the  beautiful  crimson 
lightning  flashed  the  whole  scene  open  to  us. 
Add  to  this  that  there  were  three  men  alarm 
ingly  ill,  and  (thinking  to  be  but  a  minute  in 
reaching  the  other  ship)  I  had  not  even  a  drop 
of  brandy  for  them.  Do  you  wonder,  therefore, 
that  I  forgot  to  mail  your  letter  ? 

To-day  (Saturday)  has  been  a  hard-working 
day.  It  is  something  to  feed  two  hundred  and 
fifty  men,  and  prepare  all  the  food  for  the  very 
sick.  I  wish  you  could  hear  the  men  after  they 
are  put  into  bed.  Those  who  can  speak,  speak 
with  a  will ;  others  grunt  or  murmur  their  satis 
faction  :  "  Well  !  this  bed  is  'most  too  soft. 


94  THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF  WAR. 

I  don'  know  as  I  shall  sleep  for  thinking  of 
it !  "  "  What  have  you  got  there  ?  "  "  This 
is  bread  ;  wait  till  I  butter  it !  "  "  Butter  —  on 
soft  bread !  "  he  slowly  ejaculates,  as  if  not  sure 
that  he  isn't  Aladdin  with  a  genie  at  work 
upon  him. 

The  Women's  Central  Relief  Association  are 
constantly  begging  us  for  anecdotes  relating 
to  the  gratitude,  and  so  forth,  of  the  men. 
These  have  great  effect,  they  say,  upon  the 
public  mind,  and  bring  the  money  down.  So 
one  day  Georgy  set  out  upon  a  pilgrimage,  re 
solved  that  she  would  have  something  touching 
to  report.  She  found  a  little  drummer-boy 
who  seemed  a  promising  subject,  so  she  began : 
"  That 's  a  nice  shirt  you  have  on  ;  I  know  the 
ladies  who  made  it :  have  n't  you  some  message 
to  send  them  ?  "  "  Wai !  "  said  he,  with  that 
peculiar  nasal  twang  which  belongs  only  to  a 
sick  soldier  on  the  Pamunky,  "  you  tell  'em  it 's 
'most  big  enough  for  two." 

Mrs.  Griffin  is  well,  and  very  efficient.  It 
requires  great  thought  and  care  and  sweetness 
of  temper  to  get  along  with  this  work,  and  she 
has  all  of  them.  I  met  with  the  serious  misfor- 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  95 

tune  of  breaking  the  crystal  of  my  watch  yes 
terday.  My  watch  is  a  part  of  myself  :  what 
shall  I  do  without  it  ?  —  and  there 's  so  little  to 
mark  time,  or  even  to  distinguish  day  from 
night,  in  these  vast  ships.  They  are  strange 
places,  and  I  often  feel  like  a  cockroach,  running 
familiarly  as  I  do  into  all  their  dark  corners. 

"  WILSON  SMALL,"  Sunday,  June  1. 

DEAR  A.,  —  I  write  amid  the  distant  booming 
of  cannon  and  the  hourly  arrival  of  telegrams 
from  the  scene  of  action.  The  battle1  began 
yesterday  afternoon.  Up  to  11  P.  M.  the  ac 
counts  received  were  not  wholly  favorable.  The 
attack  was  made  on  our  weakest  point,  General 
Casey's  division,  which  is  the  advanced  body 
on  the  Chickahominy.  It  was  attacked  on  front 
and  flank,  and  retreated;  but  being  reinforced 
by  General  Heintzelmann,  the  ground  and  a  lost 
battery  were  recovered.  The  second  telegram  to 
Colonel  Ingalls  was  written  off  by  the  operator 
on  the  envelope  of  your  letter  of  the  26th  ;  I 
shall  keep  it  as  a  souvenir.  It  says :  "  General 
Kearny  has  driven  the  enemy  a  mile  at  the 

1  Fair  Oaks,  otherwise  called  Seven  Pines. 


96  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

point  of  the  bayonet.  General  Heintzelmann 
is  driving  back  the  enemy.  Prisoners,  General 
Pettigru  and  several  field  and  staff  officers." 
A  little  later,  and  we  heard :  "  We  are  driving 
them  before  us  at  every  point ;  "  and  now  the 
last  word  is,  "  Our  victory  is  complete." 

The  wounded  are  pouring  in.  All  our  ships, 
except  the  "  Spaulding,"  are  here.  Even  the 
"  Elm  City,"  which  started  with  five  hundred 
sick  for  Yorktown  at  four  o'clock  this  morning, 
has  just  returned,  beds  made  and  all,  —  a  tri 
umph  for  her  hospital  company  !  The  "  Commo 
dore,"  a  Pennsylvanian  boat,  the  "  Vanderbilt  " 
and  "Whilldin,"  Government  boats,  are  full. 
The  "  Knickerbocker  "  filled  up,  before  we  left 
her,  with  three  hundred  men  from  Casey's  di 
vision,  —  a  sad  sight.  We  left  her  this  after 
noon,  after  the  men  were  comfortably  settled, 
in  the  hands  of  those  who  are  to  take  her  to 
Newport  News,  and  came  home  here,  "  Wilson 
Small,"  with  all  our  belongings.  Mrs.  M.  and 
Georgy  went  off  soon  after  to  fit  up  the  "Daniel 
Webster  No.  2." 

I  am  writing  on  our  little  after-deck  by  the 
light  of  the  moon.  The  shore  resounds  with 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR.  97 

cheering ;  even  the  wounded  are  elate.  All 
around  me  lie  hundreds,  well-nigh  thousands, 
of  the  poor  fellows.  Noble  boys ! 

"WILSON  SMALL,"  June  2. 

DEAR  A.,— The  "Daniel  Webster"  is  filling, 
to  sail  to-night.  This  letter  shall  go  in  her. 
What  a  day  and  night  we  have  had  !  What  a 
whirlwind  of  work,  sad  work,  we  have  been  in! 
Immediately  after  closing  my  letter  of  yester 
day,  Mrs.  Griffin  and  I  were  whisked  away 
in  a  little  boat,  at  the  peril  of  our  lives,  and 
hustled,  tumbled,  hoisted,  first  into  the  "  State 
of  Maine,"  where*  we  lost  our  way  amid  fright 
ful  scenes,  until  we  finally  reached  the  "Elm 
City,"  where  we  were  going  as  night-watch  to 
relieve  the  ladies  belonging  to  her,  who  had 
been  up  all  the  night  before.  She  had  four 
hundred  and  seventy  wounded  men  on  board. 
We  passed  the  night  up  to  our  elbows  in  beef- 
tea,  milk-punch,  lemonade,  panada,  etc.  The 
men  were  comfortable.  The  surgeons  let  them, 
for  the  most  part,  have  a  night's  rest  before 
their  wounds  were  opened.  Not  so,  however,  on 
the  "  State  of  Maine,"  where  operations  were 


98  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

going  on  all  night ;  the  hideous  sounds  filling  our 
ears  even  in  the  midst  of  our  own  press  of  work. 

Our  men  were  so  touchingly  grateful.  There 
was  a  poor  fellow  lying  close  to  the  door  of  the 
pantry  where  we  were  making  and  dispensing 
the  food  and  drinks  :  his  leg  was  amputated. 
I  noticed,  after  a  time,  that  he  was  stretching 
and  straining  to  get  at  a  bundle  or  something 
in  his  berth.  I  went  to  him  as  soon  as  I  could. 
He  turned  his  face  to  me,  covered  with  tears, 
and  put  a  little  crumpled  roll  of  pink  paper 
into  my  hand,  saying :  "  I  heard  you  tell  that 
man  you  gave  him  the  last  pin  out  of  your 
dress  :  don't  give  us  everything ;  please  take 
these,"  —  precious  little  roll!  will  I  ever  part 
with  it !  Such  things  are  better  for  us  than  all 
the  quinine  in  the  country.  We  stayed  chiefly 
in  our  pantry,  giving  out  to  the  dressers  and 
nurses  all  that  was  wanted ;  also  to  a  detail 
who  came  from  time  to  time  from  the  "  State 
of  Maine." 

Oh,  when  shall  I  forget  the  sunrise  that  morn 
ing  as  it  looked  in  through  the  little  window 
beside  me  !  When  can  I  cease  to  remember  the 
feelings  with  which  I  saw  it ! 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  99 

Mr.  Olmsted  sent  peremptory  orders  at  nine 
o'clock  that  we  should  return  home  ;  and  we  left 
the  "  Elm  City,"  sure  that  the  men  had  every 
thing  needful,  and  were  safe  in  the  faithful  hands 
of  Mrs.  Balestier  and  Miss  Charlotte  Bradford. 
We  were  no  sooner  washed  and  dressed  than 
the  "  Small  "  scudded  up  to  the  landing  to  take 
on  forty  wounded  just  arriving  by  the  railroad. 
The  forty  proved,  as  usual,  to  be  eighty, — 
ghastly  objects :  this  was  like  being  on  a  bat 
tle-field.  The  men  were  just  as  they  fell,  in 
their  muddy  clothing,  saturated  with  blood  and 
filth.  From  then  until  now,  when  we  have  just 
put  them  on  the  "  Webster,"  Mrs.  Griffin  and  I 
have  been  with  them.  One  died  in  her  care, 
and  one  in  mine  ;  there  were  some  too  far  gone 
to  know  anything  more  in  this  world,  but  there 
were  others,  almost  as  badly  hurt,  who  were 
cheerful,  bright,  and  even  talkative,  —  so  differ 
ent  from  the  dreary  sadness  and  listlessness  of 
sick  men.  They  seldom  groan,  except  when 
their  wounds  are  being  dressed,  and  then  their 
cries  are  agonizing  :  "  Oh,  doctor,  doctor ! "  in 
such  heartrending  tones. 

General  Devens,  wounded  in  the  knee,  Colonel 


100  THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR. 

Briggs,  Tenth  Massachusetts,  wounded  in  the 
thigh,  and  several  other  wounded  officers,  were 
among  the  eighty  ;  but  they  had  their  staff-offi 
cers  or  orderlies,  and  though  we  saw  that  they 
had  what  was  necessary,  we  stayed  ourselves 
with  the  men.  We  have  just  put  part  of  them 
on  the  "  Webster,"  which  sails  for  Boston  this 
evening,  and  the  rest  on  the  "  Elm  City,"  which 
sails  for  Annapolis  at  the '  same  time.  The 
"  Spaulding  "  has  just  come  up  the  river,  and 
the  quartermaster  hails  me  that  there  are  cases 
on  board  for  me.  Thank  you  all!  Dr.  Grymes 
has  invited  us  to  dinner  on  the  "Webster,"  that 
we  may  swallow  necessary  food,  which  we  could 
not  do  on  the  polluted  decks  of  the  "  Small." 

The  trouble  the  medical  authorities  give  Mr. 
Olmsted  is  terrible.  They  send  the  most  con 
flicting  orders,  and  there  is  no  United  States 
medical  officer  here,  at  this  most  important 
point,  to  refer  to.  Captain  Sawtelle,  Assistant- 
Quartermaster,  is  so  good  to  us.  He  and  Colonel 
Ingalls  and  General  Van  Vliet  are  constantly 
shielding  the  Commission  from  annoyance.  How 
nobly  the  Commission  has  done  its  work,  how 
thoroughly,  how  wisely ;  with  what  lavish  dis- 


THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR.  101 

regard  of  labor  and  care  and  fatigue,  so  long 
as  the  best  possible  is  done  for  the  service!  Day 
and  night,  without  sleep,  sometimes  without 
food,  Mr.  Olmsted  and  Mr.  Knapp  are  working 
their  brains  and  their  physical  strength  to  the 
utmost.  Good-by  !  we  are  just  going  on  board 
the  "  Webster."  No,  we  have  only  run  along 
side  to  give  her  the  order  to  sail.  So  good-by 
to  our  dinner!  I  hoped  to  have  sent  this  letter 
by  her.  The  victory  is  a  victory ;  but  oh,  the 
lives  and  the  suffering  it  has  cost ! 

"WILSON  SMALL,"  June  4. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  I  write  a  line  —  only  a 
line  —  that  you  may  not  be  anxious :  you 
can't  conceive  under  what  circumstances.  I  am 
perfectly  well.  I  have  no  time  to  write,  no 
power  to  withdraw  myself  from  my  surround 
ings  enough  to  write. 

Conceive  of  the  Medical  Director  sending 
down  over  four  thousand  five  hundred  wounded 
men  without  —  yes,  almost  literally  without  — 
anything  for  them :  without  surgeons ;  no  one 
authorized  to  take  charge  of  them ;  nothing  but 
empty  boats  to  receive  them. 


102  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

Of  course  the  Commission  throws  itself  in 
and  does  all.  Mr.  Olmsted  is  everything,  —  wise, 
authoritative,  untiring;  but  he  must  break  down. 
You  cant  conceive  what  it  is  to  stern  the  torrent 
of  this  disorder  and  utter  want  of  organization. 
We  are  all  well,  and  can  only  thank  God  that 
we  are  here,  with  health,  strength,  and  head. 
To  think  or  speak  of  the  things  we  see  would 
be  fatal.  No  one  must  come  here  who  cannot 
put  away  all  feeling.  Do  all  you  can,  and  be 
a  machine, — that's  the  way  to  act;  the  only 
way. 

Good-by  !  No  head  to  write  more  :  Mr. 
Olmsted,  Mr.  Knapp,  and  I  are  sitting  on  the 
floor,  resting,  with  a  pitcher  of  lemonade  be 
tween  us.  My  cases  have  arrived  —  oh,  so 
thankful !  Thank  that  good  Newport  for  me. 

"  WILSON  SMALL,"  June  5. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  I  finished  my  last  letter 
(to  A.,  I  believe)  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day 
when  we  took  eighty  men  on  the  "  Small,"  and 
transferred  them  to  the  "  Webster." 

We  had  just  washed  and  dressed,  and  were 
writing  letters,  when  Captain  Sawtelle  came  on 


THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF   WAR.  103 

board  to  say  that  several  hundred  wounded  men 
were  lying  at  the  landing ;  that  the  "  Daniel 
Webster  No.  2  "  had  been  taken  possession  of 
by  the  medical  officers,  and  was  already  half  full 
of  men,  and  that  the  surplus  was  being  carried 
across  her  to  the  "  Yanderbilt ; "  that  the  con 
fusion  was  terrible ;  that  there  were  no  stores 
on  board  the  "  Daniel  Webster  No.  2  "  (she 
having  been  seized  the  moment  she  reached  the 
landing  on  her  return  from  Yorktown,  without 
communicating  with  the  Commission),  nor  were 
there  any  stores  or  preparations,  not  even  mat 
tresses,  on  board  the  "  Yanderbilt." 

Of  course  the  best  in  our  power  had  to  be 
done.  Mrs.  Griffin  and  I  begged  Mr.  Olmsted 
not  to  refrain  from  sending  us,  merely  because 
we  had  been  up  all  night.  He  said  he  would  n't 
send  us,  but  if  we  chose  to  offer  our  services  to 
the  United  States  surgeon,  he  thought  it  would 
be  merciful.  Our  offer  was  seized.  We  went 
on  board  ;  and  such  a  scene  as  we  entered  and 
lived  in  for  two  days  I  trust  never  to  see  again. 
Men  in  every  condition  of  horror,  shattered  and 
shrieking,  were  being  brought  in  on  stretchers 
borne  by  "  contrabands,"  who  dumped  them  any- 


104  THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF  WAR. 

where,  banged  the  stretchers  against  pillars  and 
posts,  and  walked  over  the  men  without  com 
passion.  There  was  no  one  to  direct  what  ward 
or  what  bed  they  were  to  go  into.  Men  shat 
tered  in  the  thigh,  and  even  cases  of  amputa 
tion,  were  shovelled  into  top  berths  without 
thought  or  mercy.  The  men  had  mostly  been 
without  food  for  three  days,  but  there  was 
nothing  on  board  either  boat  for  them  ;  and  if 
there  had  been,  the  cooks  were  only  engaged 
to  cook  for  the  ship,  and  not  for  the  hospital. 

We  began  to  do  what  we  could.  The  first 
thing  wanted  by  wounded  men  is  something  to 
drink  (with  the  sick,  stimulants  are  the  first 
thing).  Fortunately  we  had  plenty  of  lemons, 
ice,  and  sherry  on  board  the  "  Small,"  and 
these  were  available  at  once.  Dr.  Ware  dis 
covered  a  barrel  of  molasses,  which,  with  vin 
egar,  ice,  and  water,  made  a  most  refreshing 
drink.  After  that  we  gave  them  crackers  and 
milk,  or  tea  and  bread.  It  was  hopeless  to  try 
to  get  them  into  bed  ;  indeed,  there  were  no 
mattresses  on  the  "  Vanderbilt."  All  we  could 
do  at  first  was  to  try  to  calm  the  confusion,  to 
stop  some  agony,  to  revive  the  fainting  lives,  to 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  105 

snatch,  if  possible,  from  immediate  death  with 
food  and  stimulants.  Imagine  a  great  river  or 
Sound  steamer  filled  on  every  deck,  —  every  berth 
and  every  square  inch  of  room  covered  with 
wounded  men ;  even  the  stairs  and  gangways 
and  guards  filled  with  those  who  are  less  badly 
wounded ;  and  then  imagine  fifty  well  men, 
on  every  kind  of  errand,  rushing  to  and  fro 
over  them,  every  touch  bringing  agony  to  the 
poor  fellows,  while  stretcher  after  stretcher 
came  along,  hoping  to  find  an  empty  place  ;  and 
then  imagine  what  it  was  to  keep  calm  our 
selves,  and  make  sure  that  every  man  on  both 
those  boats  was  properly  refreshed  and  fed.  We 
got  through  about  1  A.  M.,  Mrs.  M.  and  Georgy 
having  come  off  other  duty  and  reinforced  us. 

We  were  sitting  for  a  few  moments,  resting 
and  talking  it  over,  and  bitterly  asking  why  a 
Government  so  lavish  and  perfect  in  its  other 
arrangements  should  leave  its  wounded  almost 
literally  to  take  care  of  themselves,  when  a 
message  came  that  one  hundred  and  fifty  men 
were  just  arriving  by  the  cars.  It  was  raining 
in  torrents,  and  both  boats  were  full.  We  went 
on  shore  again  :  the  same  scene  repeated.  The 


106  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

wretched  "  Vanderbilt "  was  slipped  out,  the 
"Kennebec"  brought  up,  and  the  hundred  and 
fifty  men  carried  across  the  "  Daniel  Webster 
No.  2  "  to  her,  with  the  exception  of  some 
fearfully  wounded  ones,  who  could  not  be 
touched  in  the  darkness  and  rain,  and  were 
therefore  made  as  comfortable  as  they  could  be 
in  the  cars.  We  gave  refreshment  and  food  to 
all;  Miss  Whetten  and  a  detail  of  young  men 
from  the  "  Spaulding "  coming  up  in  time  to 
assist,  and  the  officers  of  the  "  Sebago,"  who 
had  seen  how  hard  pressed  we  were  in  the  after 
noon,  volunteering  for  the  night-watch.  Add 
to  this  sundry  Members  of  Congress,  who,  if 
they  talked  much,  at  least  worked  well.  One 
of  them,  the  Hon.  Moses  F.  Odell,  proposed  to 
Mr.  Olmsted  that  on  his  return  to  Washington 
he  should  move  that  the  thanks  of  Congress  be 
returned  to  us  !  Mr.  Olmsted,  mindful  of  our 
feelings,  promptly  declined. 

We  went  to  bed  at  daylight  with  breakfast 
on  our  minds,  and  at  six  o'clock  we  were  all  on 
board  the  "  Daniel  Webster  No.  2,"  and  the 
breakfast  of  six  hundred  men  was  got  through 
with  in  good  time.  Captain  Sawtelle  kindly 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  107 

sent  us  a  large  wall-tent,  twelve  caldrons  and 
camp-kettles,  two  cooks,  and  a  detail  of  six  men. 
The  tent  was  put  up  at  once ;  Dr.  Ware  giving 
to  its  preparation  the  only  hour  when  he  might 
have  rested  during  that  long  nightmare.  We 
began  to  use  it  that  (Tuesday)  morning.  It 
is  filled  with  our  stores ;  there  we  have  cooked 
not  only  the  sick-food,  but  all  the  food  needed 
on  the  Government  boats.  It  was  hard  to  get 
it  in  sufficient  quantity ;  but  when  everything 
else  gave  out,  we  broke  up  "  hard-tack  "  into 
buckets  full  of  hot  milk  and  water  a  little 
sweetened,  —  "  bread  and  milk  "  the  men  called 
it.  Oh,  that  precious  condensed  milk,  more  pre 
cious  to  us  at  that  moment  than  beef  essence ! 

Tuesday  was  very  much  a  repetition  of  Mon 
day  night.  The  men  were  cleared  from  the 
main-deck  and  gangways  of  the  "Daniel  Web 
ster  No.  2  "  on  to  the  "  Kennebec."  The  feed 
ing  business  was  almost  as  hard  to  manage  as 
before.  But  still  it  was  done,  and  we  got  to 
bed  at  1  A.  M.  Mrs.  M.  and  I  were  to  attend 
to  the  breakfast  at  six  next  morning.  By  some 
accident  Mrs.  M.,  who  was  ready  quite  as  soon 
as  I  was,  was  carried  off  by  the  "  Small,"  which 


108  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

started  suddenly  to  run  down  to  the  a  Spauld- 
ing."  I  had,  therefore,  to  get  the  breakfast 
alone.  I  accomplished  it,  and  then  went  ashore 
and  fed  some  men  who  were  just  arriving  in 
the  cars,  and  others  who  were  in  tents  near 
the  landing.  The  horrors  of  that  morning  are 
too  great  to  speak  of.  The  men  in  the  cars 
were  brought  on  board  the  "Daniel  Webster 
No.  2  "  and  laid  about  the  vacant  main-deck 
and  guards  and  on  the  deck  of  a  scow  that  lay 
alongside.  I  must  not,  I  ought  not  to  tell 
you  of  the  horrors  of  that  morning.  One  of 
the  least  was  that  I  saw  a  "  contraband  "  step  on 
the  amputated  stump  of  a  wretched  man.  I 
took  him  by  the  arm  and  walked  him  into  the 
tent,  where  I  ordered  them  to  give  him  other 
work,  and  forbade  that  he  should  come  upon 
the  ships  again.  I  felt  white  with  anger,  and 
dared  not  trust  myself  to  speak  to  him.  While 
those  awful  sights  pass  before  me  I  have  com 
paratively  no  feeling,  except  the  anxiety  to 
alleviate  as  much  as  possible.  I  do  not  suffer 
under  the  sights ;  but  oh !  the  sounds,  the 
screams  of  men.  It  is  when  I  think  of  it 
afterwards  that  it  is  so  dreadful. 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  109 

All  yesterday  (Wednesday),  after  the  early 
morning,  things  went  better.  Our  tent-kitchen 
worked  to  a  charm.  Dinner  was  well  through 
by  2  P.  M.,  and  we  had  time  to  look  after  the 
men  individually,  and  to  make  preparations  for 
two  hundred  more,  who  were  expected  by  the 
railway  at  4  p.  M.  They  did  not  come,  how 
ever,  till  1  A.  M.  While  my  letter  has  been 
in  progress  (with  countless  interruptions)  Mrs. 
Griffin  and  Mr.  Woolsey  have  come  in  to  report 
that  the  two  Government  boats,  the  "  Louisi 
ana"  and  "State  of  Maine  "  (which  have  taken 
the  place  at  the  landing  of  the  "  Yanderbilt  " 
and  the  "Daniel  Webster  No.  2  "),  are  in  good 
order,  have  excellent  hospital  stewards;  that 
the  Commission  has  supplied  them  with  ample 
stores;  and  that  the  two  hundred  men  who 
came  down  this  morning  have  gone  quietly  on 
board  the  "  State  of  Maine "  and  are  comfort 
able.  I  hope,  I  pray,  the  worst  is  over. 

About  nine  hundred  wounded  remain  to  be 
brought  down.  Mr.  Olmsted  says  our  boats 
have  transported  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  fifty-six  since  Sunday ;  the  Government  and 
Pennsylvania!!  boats  together  about  three  thou- 


110  THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR. 

sand.  Mr.  Clement  Barclay  was  with  us  on 
Monday  night  on  the  "  Vanderbilt."  I  believe 
he  went  with  her  to  Fortress  Monroe.  He  was 
working  hard,  with  the  deepest  interest  and 
skill.  I  went  with  him  to  attend  to  a  little 
"  Secesh  "  boy,  wounded  in  the  thigh  ;  also  to  a 
Southern  colonel,  a  splendid-looking  man,  who 
died,  saying  to  Mr.  Barclay,  with  raised  hand  : 
"Write  to  my  wife  and  tell  her  I  die  peni 
tent  for  the  part  I  have  taken  in  this  war." 
I  try  to  be  just  and  kind  to  the  Southern  men. 
One  of  our  men  stopped  me,  saying :  "  He 's 
a  rebel ;  give  that  to  me."  I  said,  "  But  a 
wounded  man  is  our  brother !  "  (rather  an  ob 
vious  sentiment,  if  there  is  anything  in  Chris 
tianity)  ;  and  they  both  touched  their  caps.  The 
Southerners  are  constantly  expressing  surprise 
at  one  thing  or  another,  and  they  are  shy,  but 
not  surly,  at  receiving  kindness.  Our  men  are 
a  noble  set  of  fellows,  so  cheerful,  uncomplain 
ing,  and  generous. 

Remember  that  in  all  that  I  have  written,  I 
have  told  you  only  about  ourselves,  —  the 
women.  What  the  gentlemen  have  been,  those 
of  our  party,  those  of  the  "  Spaulding  "  and  of 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  Ill 

the  other  vessels,  is  beyond  my  power  to  relate. 
Some  of  them  fainted  from  time  to  time. 

Several  regiments  have  come  up  yesterday  and 
to-day  as  reinforcements.  Their  bands  are  gay, 
and  the  trim  look  of  the  men  almost  amusing. 
The  Southerners  wear  no  uniforms,  and  are  the 
shabbiest  set  of  fellows.  Short  gray  spencers,  and 
trousers  of  any  color  or  no  color,  are  the  nearest 
approach  to  regimentals  that  I  have  seen. 

Last  night,  shining  over  blood  and  agony,  I 
saw  a  lunar  rainbow ;  and  in  the  afternoon  a 
peculiarly  beautiful  effect  of  rainbow  and  stormy 
sunset,  —  it  flashed  upon  my  eyes  as  I  passed 
an  operating-table,  and  raised  them  to  avoid 
seeing  anything  as  I  passed. 

"WILSON  SMALL,"  June  8. 

DEAR  FRIEND,  —  This  is  the  first  quiet  Sun 
day  since  we  have  been  here.  How  long  it  will 
stay  quiet,  no  one  can  tell  for  an  hour  together. 
The  past  week  is  wholly  indescribable.  Our 
own  boats  filled  up  calmly  and  comfortably  on 
Sunday  and  Monday  with  the  wounded  of  Sat 
urday.  Then  the  Government  boats  began  to 
fill ;  and  such  fearful  scenes  as  we  have  passed 


112  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

through  since  then  until  noon  of  yesterday,  I 
would  not  tell  you  if  I  could.  From  five  to 
eight  hundred  wounded  men  have  been  sent 
down  daily :  no  authorized  officials  to  receive 
them ;  no  arrangements  made  of  any  kind. 
The  boats  which  have  been  lying  here  idle  for 
weeks,  waiting  for  "  surgical  cases,"  wholly  un 
prepared,  and  their  surgeons  off  to  the  battle 
field.  No  stores,  no  beds,  no  hospital  stewards, 
no  food,  no  stimulants.  Then  it  is  that  the 
medical  authorities  fling  themselves  on  the  San 
itary  Commission,  and  the  Commission  gives 
everything  with  a  generous  hand.  It  has  done 
all  that  has  been  done  on  three  fourths  of  the 
Government  boats,  and  that  at  the  last  moment, 
without  notice,  and  when  its  supplies  were 
heavily  taxed  in  fitting  out  its  own  boats,  — 
which,  happily,  were  all,  except  the  "Spaulding," 
here,  and  ready  to  ship  the  first  wounded  that 
came  down.  Never  did  men  work  as  ours  have 
worked.  It  would  be  hard  to  say  who  did  best 
where  all  did  so  well.  No  description  can  give 
you  a  full  idea  of  the  pressure  upon  them,  of 
the  necessities  they  strove  to  meet ;  and  all  to 
be  done  out  of  their -regular  system,  hurried  and 


THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  113 

confused  by  the  hurry  and  excitement  of  the 
one  medical  officer  who  appeared  to  have  any 
authority  upon  the  ground. 

As  for  us  women,  all  we  could  do  was  to  give 
drink,  stimulants,  and  food  to  the  poor  fellows, 
and  what  other  little  ease  we  could.  We  take 
great  comfort  in  a  tent-kitchen  provided  for 
us  by  Captain  Sawtelle,  from  whom  we  receive 
much  thoughtful,  kind  attention.  From  it  we 
have  fed  four  thousand  men  this  week ;  on  Thurs 
day  we  served  twelve  hundred  meals.  We  also 
receive  kindness  from  other  officers.  Far  from 
meeting  with  any  of  the  usual  army  opposition, 
our  help  is  claimed  and  warmly  acknowledged. 

To-day  things  look  brighter.  The  "  Elm  City  " 
and  "  Knickerbocker  "  are  back  and  in  perfect 
order.  A  new  medical  officer  has  been  placed 
in  charge  of  the  transportation  from  this  point. 
He  began  his  duties  yesterday  after  the  depar 
ture  of  the  "  Louisiana."  She  was  fifty  per 
cent  better  than  any  of  the  other  Government 
boats,  and  yet  this  officer  said  to  me  to-day, 
when  I  took  him  through  the  wards  of  the 
"  Knickerbocker  "  (she  filled  up  at  midnight)  : 
"  Oh,  what  happiness  to  look  at  this  boat  after 


114  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

that  accursed  thing  of  yesterday!"  I  find  I  can 
bear  anything  with  calmness  and,  in  one  sense, 
indifference  so  long  as  I  am  beside  it  and  en 
gaged  with  it.  To  feel  acutely  at  such  times 
is  merely  selfish.  But  no  tongue  can  tell  what 
I  suffered  yesterday  afternoon  when  I  was 
obliged  to  stay  on  board  here  for  a  little  rest, 
and  listen  to  the  groans  of  men  undergoing 
operations  on  the  gangway  of  the  "  Louisiana," 
to  which  we  were  moored.  No  trial  of  nerves 
ever  equalled  that.  But  why  speak  of  such 
things  ?  I  beg  you  to  offer  the  Prayer  for  the 
Sick,  and  that  for  the  Afflicted,  every  Sunday  in 
the  Chapel.  Can  you  not  change  and  add  some 
thing  to  them,  to  fill  out  and  express  all  that 
we  feel  ?  It  would  be  a  great  satisfaction  to 
me  to  think  that  this  were  done. 

I  trust  the  worst  is  over.  How  little  you  all 
realize  the  magnitude  of  our  necessities  at  your 
distance  from  them !  Think  of  a  handful  of  us 
here  to  keep  order  for  the  wounded  of  this 
great  army, — I  might  almost  say  to  keep  life  in 
them.  I  cannot  adequately  tell  you  of  the  work 
these  Commission  men  have  done.  The  lives 
saved  are  theirs.  "Day"  and  "night"  are  words 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR,  115 

of  no  meaning  to  Mr.  Olmsted  and  Mr.  Knapp. 
I  think  they  must  break  down  under  the  pres 
sure  of  care  and  physical  effort.  The  young 
men  of  the  Commission  are  most  praiseworthy. 
Nothing  is  too  hard,  or  too  humble,  or  too  con 
stant  for  them  to  do,  and  do  gladly,  as  if  they 
rejoiced  to  do  it.  Dr.  Robert  Ware  has  more 
upon  him  than  any  one  but  Mr.  Olmsted  and 
Mr.  Knapp ;  he  is  all  that  is  sensible,  energetic, 
and  successful. 

I  have  seen  many  men  die,  but  never  one  to 
whom  such  a  word  as  one  might  wish  to  say 
could  be  spoken.  Our  work  is  not  like  regular 
hospital  work.  Tt  is  succoring  men  just  off 
the  battle-field,  and  making  them  easy,  clean, 
and  comfortable  before  we  turn  them  over  into 
other  hands.  Those  who  die  are  too  low  when 
they  come  to  us  to  know  much ;  and  when  you 
think  that  four  thousand  men  have  passed 
through  our  hands  this  week,  you  will  under 
stand  that  we  can  do  little  beyond  the  mere 
snatching  from  physical  death. 

Good-by !  I  hope  you  may  be  happy  this 
summer,  —  it  would  be  something  to  be  able 
to  think  of  happiness  as  existing  somewhere. 


116  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

I  send  you  a  little  poem  addressed  to  Mrs. , 

by  a  private  soldier  who  had  been  in  her  care 
on  one  of  our  boats.  If  you  knew  her  you 
would  see  that  there  is  a  poet's  insight  in 
what  he  says  of  her :  — 

From  old  Saint  Paul  till  now, 

Of  honorable  women  not  a  few 

Have  left  their  golden  ease,  in  love  to  do 

The  saintly  work  which  Christlike  hearts  pursue. 

And  such  an  one  art  thou,  —  God's  fair  apostle, 
Bearing  his  Love  in  war's  horrific  train  ; 
Thy  blessed  feet  follow  its  ghastly  pain 
And  misery  and  death,  without  disdain. 

To  one  borne  from  the  sullen  battle's  roar, 
Dearer  the  greeting  of  thy  gentle  eyes 
When  he  aweary,  torn,  and  bleeding  lies, 
Than  all  the  glory  that  the  victors  prize. 

When  peace  shall  come,  and  homes  shall  smile  again, 
A  thousand  soldier-hearts  in  Northern  climes 
Shall  tell  their  little  children  in  their  rhymes 
Of  the  sweet  saint  who  blessed  the  old  war-times. 


"  WILSON  SMALL,"  June  8. 

DEAR  A.,  —  I  have  written  to  mother  and  to 

Mr.  M of   the  battles  of  the   1st  and  2d 

of  June.     I  refer  you  to  those  letters  for  the 
sad  story  of  those  days.     The  Commission  boats 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR.  117 

were  all  here  when  the  wounded  began  to  come 
down  in  freight-cars  from  the  front.  They 
filled  and  left  with  their  accustomed  order 
and  promptitude.  After  that,  other  boats,  de 
tailed  by  Government  for  hospital-service,  were 
brought  up.  These  boats  were  not  under  con 
trol  of  the  Sanitary  Commission.  There  was 
no  one  appointed  to  take  charge  of  them  ; 
no  one  authorized  to  receive  the  wounded  at 
the  railroad ;  no  one  to  ship  them  properly  ; 
no  one  to  see  that  the  boats  were  supplied  with 
proper  stores.  Of  course  the  Commission  came 
forward  to  do  what  it  could  at  a  moment's 
notice  ;  but  it  had  no  power,  only  the  right  of 
charity.  It  could  neither  control  nor  check  the 
fearful  confusion  which  ensued  as  train  after 
train  came  in  and  the  wounded  were  brought 
and  thrust  upon  the  various  boats.  But  it  did 
nobly  what  it  could.  Night  and  day  its  mem 
bers  worked,  —  not,  you  must  remember,  in  its 
own  well-organized  service,  but  in  the  hard  duty 
of  making  the  best  of  a  bad  case. 

On  board  the  Commission  boats  we  see  the 
unavoidable  miseries  of  war,  and  none  else. 
As  soon  as  the  men  come  on  board,  all  suffering, 


118  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

except  that  of  illness,  ceases  (this  is  a  fact  to  be 
thought  of  and  dwelt  upon) ;  we  know  and  see 
that  every  necessary  comfort  and  every  chance 
for  life  is  freely  supplied.  I  often  think  of  the 
money  and  supplies  which  by  the  kindness  of 
the  people  of  Newport  passed  through  my 
hands  before  I  left  home.  How  little  I  then 
knew  their  value  !  How  little  I  imagined  that 
each  article  was  to  be  a  life  giving  comfort  to 
some  one  sufferer !  Believe  me,  you  may  all 
give  and  work  in  the  earnest  hope  that  you 
alleviate  suffering ;  but  none  of  you  realize  what 
you  do,  —  perhaps  you  can't  conceive  it,  unless 
you  could  see  your  gifts  in  use.  I  often  wish, 
as  I  give  a  comfort  to  some  poor  fellow  and  see 
the  sense  of  rest  it  gives  him,  and  hear  the 
favorite  speech,  "  Oh,  that 's  good ;  it 's  just 
as  if  mother  was  here  !  "  that  the  man  or  woman 
who  supplied  that  comfort  were  by  to  see  how 
blessed  it  is. 

I  refer  you  to  my  other  letters  for  the  details 
of  that  week,  —  I  cannot  write  of  them  again. 
And  to-day,  at  the  close  of  such  a  week,  comes 
an  "  excursion  party "  from  Washington,  — 
Congressmen  and  ladies  in  silks  and  perfumes 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  119 

and  lilac  kid  gloves  !  "  Sabbath-breaking  pic 
nickers  on  a  battle-field  !  "  as  Georgy  called 
them  in  a  rage.  I  took  one  lady,  with  a  little 
honest  pride,  through  the  wards  of  the  "  Knick 
erbocker/'  where  everything  was  sweet  and 
fresh,  the  men  all  quiet  in  their  white  beds  and 
clean  hospital  clothing,  —  nothing,  compara 
tively,  to  shock  any  one.  She  wished  to  call 
her.  sister;  but  a  gentleman  who  was  with  her 
said  :  "  Oh,  don't  ;  don't  let  her  see  such  an 
awful  sight  !  "  Now  there  was  nothing  painful 
to  be  seen  ;  at  that  moment  the  awfulness  of 
war  was  but  an  idea,  —  then  why  did  n't  that 
idea  keep  them  away  from  here  altogether  ? 

The  "  Elm  City  "  is  back  to-day  ;  the  ladies 
have  put  her  in  order  as  she  came  up  the  river. 
There  have  been  no  arrivals  of  wounded;  those 
who  came  down  last  night  were  the  wounded  of 
last  Sunday.  Their  wounds  were  in  a  frightful 
state,  —  alive  with  maggots. 

Your  letter  ("  not  dated,"  as  gentlemen  say) 
telling  me  that  you  have  sent  another  spirit- 
lamp  is  received  to-day.  You  can  't  tell  what 
your  letters  are  to  me  ;  I  actually  put  them 
under  my  pillow  to  read  when  I  wake  in  the 


120  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

morning,  —  like  Ralph.  I  am  well ;  but  ex 
citement,  fatigue,  and  quinine  have  made  me 
deaf,  which  bothers  me  a  good  deal.  Mr. 
Knapp  has  broken  down,  as  I  knew  he  would. 
Oh,  what  a  sad  loss  he  will  be  to  us !  Dr.  J. 
Foster  Jenkins  has  arrived  to  take  his  place. 
Mr.  Olmsted's  health  begins  to  give  the  doctors 
serious  uneasiness,  —  so  they  tell  me ;  but  he 
says  he  is  well. 

"  WILSON  SMALL,"  June  9. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  I  can't  retain  the  least 
recollection  of  when  I  write,  or  what  I  write, 
or  to  whom  it  is  written.  I  only  know  that  I 
do  write  to  somebody  nearly  every  day.  You 
owe  the  multitude  of  my  letters  partly  to  the 
fact  that  they  are  written  here  and  there  at 
odd  moments,  and  partly  to  the  other  fact  that 
when  we  go  off  duty  we  go  utterly  off,  and  come 
up  to  our  little  haven  of  rest,  the  "  Small." 
When  we  get  here  we  can't  sit  and  do  nothing, 
we  can't  think,  we  can't  read ;  what  can  we  do 
but  write  ?  Sometimes  the  intense  excitement 
of  our  lives  finds  vent  and  ease  in  writing  ; 
but  at  other  times,  when  we  have  nothing 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  121 

pressing  to  do,  we  feel  so  inert  that  the  effort 
to  collect  our  thoughts  to  write  even  a  line  is 
too  great.  We  have  so  many  letters  to  scrib 
ble  for  the  poor  fellows  that  materials  must 
always  be  handy.  I  go  about  with  my  note- 
paper  rolled  up  in  a  magazine  and  stuck,  with 
pens  and  ink,  into  an  apron-pocket ;  and  so  it 
sometimes  happens  that  a  letter  to  you  is  be 
gun,  continued,  or  ended  while  on  duty.  Be 
side  the  letters  we  write  and  send  off  for  the 
men,  we  have  many  from  friends  inquiring 
after  husbands,  sons,  and  brothers  who  are  re 
ported  wounded.  Such  letters  will  never  cease 
to  be  a  sad  and  tender  memory  to  us.  One 
came  last  week  from  a  wife  inquiring  after  her 
husband,  but  none  of  us  could  attend  to  it 
until  to-day.  "  Give  him  back  to  me  dead," 
she  says,  "  if  he  is  dead,  for  I  must  see  him." 
Mrs.  Griffin  remembered  the  name  ;  he  was  one 
of  the  men  whose  funeral  she  attended  ashore 
one  Sunday  evening.  So  to-day  I  went  up  and 
found  him  under  the  feathery  elrn-tree.  I  made 
a  little  sketch  of  the  place  and  sent  it  to  her,  — 
all  I  could  send,  poor  soul ! 

I  am  sitting   now  on  a  barrel  in  the   tent, 


122  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

waiting  for  a  train  of  sick  men  who  were  tele 
graphed  to  arrive  an  hour  ago.  A  million  of 
flies  are  buzzing  and  whirling  and  settling 
about  me.  If  you  doubt  the  number,  "  Count 
them,  sir,  count  them,"  as  the  waiter  at 
Yauxhall  said  to  the  man  who  asked  if  there 
were  really  five  millions  of  lamps,  as  advertised. 
Flies  are  much  harder  to  count  than  lamps,  so 
I  let  you  off  four  millions. 

I  hear  that  inquiries  are  being  made  as  to 
how  the  Sanitary  Commission  uses  its  supplies. 
If  they  are  made  of  you,  say  that  so  far  as  I 
have  seen  (and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
more  than  half  of  what  is  used  on  our  boats 
passes  under  the  women's  knowledge),  there  is 
no  waste,  but  the  most  careful  use.  The  Com 
mission  is  not  only  doing  in  the  best  manner 
its  own  work,  but  it  has  supplied  stores  of  hos 
pital  food,  stimulants,  and  every  thread  of 
clothing,  lint,  bandages,  sheets,  articles  and 
utensils  of  hospital  use,  and  much  else  of  a  mis 
cellaneous  character,  to  the  Government  boats, 
besides  the  daily,  I  might  almost  say  hourly, 
requisitions  from  the  regimental  hospitals.  If 
people  ask  whether  more  can  be  wanted,  let 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  123 

them  consider  this.  Let  them  reflect  that  four 
times  a  week  our  own  boats  have  to  be  fitted 
out.  To  be  sure,  the  same  things  are  to  some 
extent  used  again  ;  but,  without  waste,  much 
must  be  lost.  For  instance,  washing  cannot  be 
done  here  or  on  the  boats ;  on  the  latter  it 
would  be  dangerous.  Much  that  is  used  has 
to  be  thrown  overboard ;  it  would  be  a  risk 
to  life  to  do  otherwise.  Large  cases  of  soiled 
clothing,  sheets,  etc.,  are  nailed  up  and  sent 
North  on  the  ships.  Perhaps  each  of  them 
carries  two  or  three  thousand  of  such  articles. 
Of  course  the  supplies  diminish ;  though  from 
time  to  time  the  washed  articles  come  back. 

Oh !  if  those  at  home  could  see  all  that  I 
see,  no  trouble,  no  expense,  no  sacrifice  would 
be  thought  too  great  to  strengthen  the  hands 
of  this  Commission  so  that  its  work  may  not 
fail.  I  know  of  my  own  knowledge  how  the 
articles  supplied  by  the  women  of  the  country 
go ;  and  I  know  there  is  no  waste.  When 
hour  by  hour  some  direful  necessity  is  brought 
to  sight,  much  has  to  be  given  which  never 
comes  back  into  our  hands  ;  all  given  to  the 
Government  boats  is,  of  course,  never  returned, 


124  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

—  nor  could  that  be  expected.  On  our  own  boats, 
however,  economy  is  practised  just  so  far  as 
not  to  interfere  with  the  success  of  the  work. 
Oh,  how  pressed  we  are  for  some  things ! 
Tin  pails,  lanterns,  and  things  of  that  kind  we 
are  always  begging  for,  and  "  annexing  ' '  where 
we  can. 

I  ought  to  say  that  I  believe  the  confusion 
and  neglect  on  the  part  of  the  Medical  Depart 
ment  which  occurred  last  week  was  exceptional, 
and  not  likely  to  occur  again.  At  least  the 
authorities  have  now  been  warned,  and  I  be 
lieve  they  will  profit  by  the  warning.  Probably 
no  army  in  the  world  ever  advanced  with  so 
much  to  alleviate  its  hardships.  Notwithstand 
ing  the  suffering  I  see,  I  feel  this ;  and  when  I 
reflect  that  I  see  all,  or  nearly  all,  there  is  of 
misery,  I  am  ready  to  say  that  this  war  is  not 
as  dreadful  as  war  once  was.  The  men  are 
well  clothed  and  shod  and  fed ;  the  ration  (on 
which  we  live  also)  is  excellent ;  the  beef,  rice, 
flour,  and  coffee  as  good  as  need  be.1 

1  I  found  this  to  be  the  case  when  I  became,  later,  superinten 
dent  of  a  large  United  States  Army  General  Hospital,  where  the 
articles  composing  the  ration  came  directly  under  my  observa- 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  125 

"  WILSON  SMALL,"  June  10. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  Being  the  happy  possessor 
of  a  pen-holder  (pilfered  from  the  "  Elm  City"), 
and  having  nothing  to  do,  I  shall  write  you  a 
long  letter.  We  are  all  collected,  shivering 
and  idle,  under  piles  of  blanket-shawls.  All 
the  wounded  have  come  down  and  gone,  and 
we  have  nothing  to  do,  at  least  for  to-day.  If 
the  weather  were  but  mild,  we  could  be  com 
fortable  and  enjoy  our  rest ;  but  never  in  the 
depth  of  winter  did  I  feel  the  cold  as  I  do  to 
day.  I  am  chilled  to  the  heart. 

Keep  my  letters  ;  they  will  remind  me  to  tell 
you  many  things  now  forgotten.  I  wish  it  had 
been  possible  to  keep  a  journal,  so  much  that 
is  interesting  and  droll  in  men  and  things 
occurs  every  minute ;  such  armies  of  queer 

tion.  I  never  saw  one  of  inferior  quality.  The  ration  of  the 
United  States  soldier  is  :  f  Ib.  of  pork  or  bacon,  or  1^  Ibs.  of 
fresh  or  salt  beef ;  22  ounces  of  bread  or  flour,  or  1J  Ibs.  of 
corn-meal ;  to  every  hundred  rations,  10  Ibs.  coffee,  1^  Ibs.  tea, 
15  Ibs.  sugar,  1  Ib.  sperm  candles,  or  1^  Ibs.  tallow  ditto,  4  Ibs. 
soap,  2  quarts  salt,  8  quarts  beans  or  peas,  10  Ibs.  rice  or  hominy, 
4  quarts  vinegar,  1  gallon  molasses  (twice  a  week),  100  Ibs.  of 
fresh  potatoes  or  100  ounces  dessicated  vegetables  (three  times 
a  week).  Bacon  means  ham  or  middlings. 


126  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

people  turn  up  !  Quartermasters  are  among  the 
queerest.  We  have  our  own  chief  dragon  on 
the  "  Elizabeth/'  with  whom  I  am  supposed  to 
get  along  better  than  the  others,  therefore  I 
conduct  all  difficult  negotiations.  I  rush  to 
him  for  something  important  a  dozen  times  a 
day.  He  is  resolute  not  to  give  it  to  me  till  I 
write  and  sign  a  requisition.  Of  course  I  am 
wanting  it  for  something  pressing,  so  after  a 
slight  blandishment  I  get  it  under  promise  of 
sending  the  requisition,  —  which  is  never  sent. 
Then  we  have  squads  of  comical  "contrabands  " 
(who  like  us  very  much  until  it  becomes  a  ques 
tion  of  ivork),  and  a  detail  of  kind,  nimble, 
tender  Zouaves.  I  have  become  a  convert  to 
them  after  a  long  struggle,  —  their  efficiency, 
their  good  sense,  their  gentleness  are  so  marked. 
Even  their  dress,  which  I  once  hated,  seems  to 
take  them  in  some  sort  out  of  the  usual  man 
ners  and  ways  of  men.  They  have  none  of  the 
dull,  obstinate  ways  of  that  sex,  —  they  are 
unexceptionable  human  beings  of  no  sex,  with 
the  virtues  of  both. 

Then  we  have  every  style  of  arrogant  army 
surgeon  and  presuming  volunteer   surgeon,  no 


THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  127 

end  of  army  officers,  and  some  few  naval 
officers :  all  of  whom  come  trooping  on  board 
the  "  Small  "  after  Mr.  Olmsted,  —  chiefly,  I  ob 
serve,  about  dinner-time.  The  Commission  is 
sadly  imposed  on  in  this  way  ;  it  is  used  as  a 
hotel.  Last  night  four  ladies  arrived  on  the 
mail-boat,  and  instantly  transferred  themselves 
to  the  "  Small."  They  have  no  business  here, 
and  nowhere  to  go.  If  such  women  are  given 
a  duty  to  do,  they  leave  it,  after  a  while,  on  the 
general  principle  that  they  are  "  wanted  at  the 
front."  When  they  get  there,  the  surgeons 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  them ;  and,  fin 
ally,  this  morning  two,  who  are  thought  to  be 
of  doubtful  character,  have  been  returned 
whence  they  came.  The  wonder  is  how  they 
get  the  passes  to  come  at  all.  No  lady  should 
attempt  to  come  here  unless  accepted  or  ap 
pointed  by  the  Government  or  the  Commission. 
Ardent  women  with  a  mission  should  not  come 
in  any  other  way,  if  they  value  their  own 
respectability. 

Our  dear  Mr.  Knapp  has  broken  down,  as  I 
knew  he  would,  and  is  gone  home  with  typhoid 
fever.  I  think  I  told  you  that  a  new  surgeon- 


128  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

in-charge  had  been  appointed  to  the  Shore 
hospital,  with  superintendence  of  the  ship- 
transportation.  He  seems  a  kind  man,  and 
desirous  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  the  Com 
mission  and  work  with  it.  He  is  very  cor 
dial  to  us  women,  and  begs  us  to  come  and 
do  what  we  can  at  the  hospital.  Mr.  Olmsted, 
however,  frowns  upon  the  idea,  —  frowns  ?  No  ; 
but  he  remains  impenetrably  silent,  —  which  is 
worse,  for  we  can't  rebel  at  it. 

I  often  feel  the  pleasantness  of  our  footing 
among  all  these  persons,  —  official,  military, 
naval,  and  medical.  They  clearly  respect  our 
work,  and  rightly  appreciate  it ;  they  make  no 
foolish  speeches,  but  are  direct  and  sensible  in 
their  words  and  acts ;  and  when  work  is  over, 
they  do  not  feel  towards  us  as  "  women  with  a 
mission,"  but  as  ladies,  to  be  with  whom  is  a 
grateful  relaxation. 

Dr.  McClellan,  on  the  General's  staff,  came 
in  from  the  front,  and  stayed  with  us  last  night, 
on  his  way  to  Fortress  Monroe.  He  thinks 
there  will  be  a  gigantic  battle  before  Richmond, 
and  speaks  of  twenty  thousand  wounded.  It  is 
overwhelming  to  think  of  it.  The  nation  must 


THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR.  129 

send  us  more  sheets,  shirts,  drawers,  and  money 
—  MONEY. 

The  "  Elm  City  "  is  lying  alongside,  between 
the  "  Small "  and  the  shore.  There  is  little  for 
her  to  do  at  present.  A  dozen  or  so  of  wounded 
come  down  occasionally  and  go  on  board  of  her. 
A  standing  order  now  exists  that  none  but 
wounded  shall  be  put  on  the  boats ;  all  the  sick 
are  to  go  to  the  Shore  hospital.  Our  tent  is  at 
the  head  of  the  wharf,  just  where  the  railway 
ends  abruptly  at  the  burned  bridge.  Dr.  Ware 
selects  the  cases  from  the  freight-cars,  on  the 
bare  floor  of  which  they  are  jolted  down  from 
Savage's  Station,  —  the  terminus  of  the  road  at 
the  front.  The  worst  cases  are  put  inside  the 
covered  cars, — close,  windowless  boxes, — some 
times  with  a  little  straw  or  a  blanket  to  lie  on, 
oftener  without.  They  arrive  a  festering  mass 
of  dead  and  living  together,  —  or  did,  during  the 
battle-week.  Now  they  are  sent  down  more  com 
fortably;  the  bad  cases  have  plenty  of  straw 
and  plenty  of  room  within,  and  the  slight  cases 
are  perched  upon  the  roof,  or  come  down  on 
long  trains  of  trucks.  Meantime  we  have 
ready  in  the  tent  proper  food  and  stimulants, 


130  THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

and  administer  them  to  all  after  their  hard 
journey,  and  before  they  go  either  on  board  the 
boats,  or  are  taken  in  ambulances  to  the  Shore 
hospital. 

I  shall  send  this  letter  by  Monsieur  de  Tro- 
briand,  who  goes  home  to-night,  having  had  a 
severe  attack  of  typhoid  fever,  from  which  he 
is  not  recovered ;  ill  as  he  is,  he  is  delightfully 
amusing,  though  I  suspect  him  of  being  slightly 
out  of  his  head.  I  think  sometimes,  when  I 
am  idle,  of  the  happiness  of  getting  home  again. 
Oh  !  I  never,  never  will  grumble  at  anything 
again.  But  also  I  will  never  eat  beef  when 
once  I  escape  from  army  rations  ;  and  I  will 
never  again  own  a  carpet-bag.  The  misery 
those  carpet-bags  have  cost  me  !  I  rush  up  for 
something  that  is  wanted  in  a  hurry;  it  is  at 
the  bottom  of  the  bag,  —  things  that  are  wanted 
always  are.  I  tip  it  over  into  the  berth,  seize 
what  I  want,  and  am  gone  again.  But  then 
comes  midnight !  I  creep  up  tired  and  sleepy, 
and  find  a  mound  of  books,  boots,  cologne-bot 
tles,  and  other  brittle  and  angular  things  which 
must  be  cleared  away  before  I  can  fling  myself 
down.  Amelia,  our  black  servant,  says :  "  Laws 


THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR.  131 

me !      I   do   wonder   if  you   sleep   on   all    dat 
muss !  " 

Keinforcements  are  arriving  daily.  I  suppose 
from  eight  to  ten  thousand  of  McCall's  division 
(a  small  portion  of  McDowell's  corps)  have 
arrived  within  a  week.  At  first  I  scarcely 
noticed  their  coming.  I  heard  their  gay  bands, 
and  the  loud  cheering  of  the  men  as  the  trans 
ports  rounded  the  last  bend  of  the  river  and  came 
in  sight  of  the  landing ;  but  such  sounds  of  the 
dreadful  other  side  of  war  filled  my  ears  that 
if  I  heard  I  heeded  not.  For  the  last  night  or 
two  the  arrivals  by  moonlight,  the  cheers  and 
the  gay  music  have  been  really  enlivening.  We 
see  the  dark  side  of  all.  You  must  not,  how 
ever,  gather  only  gloomy  ideas  from  me.  I  see 
the  worst,  short  of  the  actual  battle-field,  that 
there  is  to  see.  You  must  not  allow  yourself 
to  think  there  is  no  brightness  because  I  do 
not  speak  of  it. 

"  WILSON  SMALL,"  June  12. 

DEAR  A., — Yours  of  the  4th  received,  telling 
me  you  have  sent  some  cases.  How  eagerly 
I  shall  look  out  for  the  "  Webster  !  "  I  wish 


132  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

I  could  instruct  you  fully  as  to  the  late  battle ; 
but  our  work  so  fills  both  time  and  mind  that 
I  feel  as  if  I  lived  out  of  the  war  now  that  I 
live  in  it.  You  have  much  fuller  accounts  in 
the  New  York  papers  than  I  can  give  you. 
The  little  that  I  know  is,  however,  true,  and 
that  is  more  than  can  be  said  of  all  the  papers 
tell  you.  The  late  battle  was  not  a  general 
engagement.  The  enemy  attacked  us  on  the 
left.  Our  left  is  composed  of  two  corps  d'ar- 
mee,  —  General  Reyes's  and  General  Heintzel- 
mann's.  Each  corps  has  two  divisions,  each 
division  four  or  five  brigades,  each  brigade  four 
regiments.  Our  left  has  been  for  some  time 
across  the  Chickahominy,  although  not  so  near 
Richmond  as  our  right,  which  is  now  bridg 
ing  the  river  and  the  swamps  to  cross  higher 
up,  and  is  composed  of  two  corps,  —  General 
Franklin's  and  General  Fitz-John  Porter's ;  the 
latter  stretching  away  to  the  right  to  form  the 
desired  junction  with  McDowell.  The  bed  of 
the  Chickahominy  is  narrow ;  but  in  wet 
weather  it  becomes  nearly  treble  its  width, 
making  the  bridges  and  causeways  which  we 
have  built  nearly  impassable.  The  enemy,  tak- 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  133 

ing  advantage  of  the  great  storm  which  flooded 
these  bottom  lands  (destroying,  so  they  hoped, 
our  communications),  attacked  General  Casey's 
division  on  three  sides.  This  division  is  part 
of  General  Reyes's  corps.  It  was  clearly  a  sur 
prise,  some  of  the  officers  being  killed  at  dinner 
in  their  tents.  We  were  forced  back,  losing 
guns  and  ground,  —  which  were  recovered,  how 
ever,  when  General  Couch's  division  (also  of 
Reyes's  corps)  came  up.  It  is  said  that  when 
General  Rearny's  division  (of  Heintzelmann's 
corps)  reached  the  ground,  the  day  was  already 
redeemed.  Our  right  was  from  four  to  seven 
miles  distant  from  the  scene  of  action,  which 
was  at  a  place  called  Seven  Pines,  on  the  line 
of  the  railroad.  General  McClellan,  whose 
headquarters  are  on  the  railroad  this  side  of 
the  Chickahominy,  and  about  the  centre  of  our 
lines,  crossed  the  river  Saturday  afternoon 
with  General  Sumner  and  his  corps,  and  the 
next  day  (Sunday)  defeated  the  enemy  at  all 
points. 

This  is  all  I  know ;  and  you  won't  understand 
it  without  a  map.  I  am  sorry  to  say  General 
McClellan  is  very  unwell,  if  not  seriously  ill. 


134  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

I  am  told  he  has  had  the  fever,  which  has  left 
him  with  camp  dysentery.  I  inclose  a  printed 
letter  of  Mr.  Olmsted's  about  the  work  of  the 
Commission  which  we  all  like  very  much.  I 
have  made  some  notes  to  it,  for  I  comprehend 
the  family  egotism  about  me  enough  to  feel 
that  you  will  read  the  letter  with  double  inter 
est  if  you  know  where  I  fit  into  it. 

Last  evening  we  made  our  first  pleasure  excur 
sion.  Mr.  Olmsted  begged  us  ("  us"  always  means 
himself  and  staff)  to  take  a  run  in  the  "  Wheel 
barrow/'  "  Wissahickon,"  or  "Wicked  Chicken," 
as  we  indiscriminately  call  our  tug-boat,  up 
the  river  beyond  the  burned  bridge.  We  gen 
erally  have  one  or  two  pleasant  outsiders  not  far 
off.  Last  night  it  was  Colonel  M.,  who  had 
ridden  in  from  the  front  to  spend  a  day  with 
his  wife.  Oh,  how  we  enjoyed  our  little  holi 
day  !  It  was  sweet  to  run  suddenly  out  of  the 
noisy  bustle  of  the  wharves  and  the  camp,  out 
of  the  breath  of  hospitals,  into  the  still  river, 
shining  with  amber  lights  of  sunset,  where 
nothing  broke  the  silence  but  the  cranes  —  and 
we.  We  came  home  by  moonlight,  refreshed 
and  happy. 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  135 

To-day  (very  suddenly,  and  just  at  dinner 
time)  the  Chief  discovered  that  an  ice-boat  was 
missing;  so  we  have  dropped  down  to  Cum 
berland  in  search  of  her.  In  other  words,  we 
have  had  a  peaceful  family  dinner,  safe  from 
loafers  and  spongers ;  and  now  we  are  sitting 
on  the  after-deck,  dreaming,  reading,  writing, 
and  some  of  us,  of  course,  smoking.  I  can't  tell 
you  what  a  pleasure  it  is  to  be  with  these 
people  who  go  right  in  to  a  thing  thoroughly. 
Nobody  is  head  here  (except  the  Chief).  We 
all  do  a  little  of  everything,  and  pretty  much 
what  we  please.  I  am,  if  anything,  at  the  foot. 
This  is  not  humility,  but  truth ;  the  others  are 
so  prompt  and  efficient  that  they  often  take 
out  of  my  hands  that  which  I  might  do. 

We  are  just  passing  the  charred  bones  of  a 
burned  rebel  gunboat.  Oh,  this  pretty  river  ! 
How  I  wish  you  could  be  beside  me  now !  If 
you  were,  you  should  occupy  our  best  chair, 
which  once  was  cane-bottomed,  but  now  has 
only  the  frame-work  of  the  seat,  on  which  we 
poise  ourselves. 

I  am  well,  and  shall  last,  I  think,  till  we  get 
to  Richmond.  Don't  be  uneasy  about  me  ;  if 


136  THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR. 

I  should  be  ill,  I  shall  take  the  mail-boat,  and 
be  at  home  before  you  can  hear  of  it.  To-mor 
row  I  take  a  ride  in  an  ambulance,  which  equi 
page  the  surgeon-in-charge  of  the  Shore  hospital 
is  to  send  down  for  us,  that  we  may  go  up  and 
organize  a  special  diet  kitchen  for  him,  where 
proper  sick-food  can  be  prepared  under  the 
surgeons'  orders.  All  good  hospitals  ought  to 
be  self-supporting.  Government  furnishes  an 
ample  ration,  which  can  be  drawn  in  money 
(*'  commuted  "  they  call  it)  and  spent  in  proper 
food  for  the  sick,  instead  of  the  ordinary  mess 
diet.  I  should  like  to  have  charge  of  a  hospital 
now.  I  could  make  it  march,  if  only  I  had 
hold  of  some  of  the  administrative  power. 

We  have  little  to  do  at  the  present  moment. 
From  twenty-five  to  seventy-five  sick  men  come 
down  daily.  We  give  them  a  meal  as  they 
arrive,  and  then  they  are  taken  to  the  Shore 
hospital.  When  a  wounded  man  comes  down 
he  is  put  on  the  "Elm  City,"  now  lying  along 
side  the  wharf.  We  have  done  nothing  on 
board  of  her  since  we  last  fitted  her  up  before 
the  battle.  She  has  her  full  complement  of 
service,  and  the  women's  department  is  in  the 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR.  137 

competent  hands  of  Mrs.  Balestier  and  Miss 
Bradford.  At  present  our  time  is  divided  be 
tween  the  tent  and  the  "  Small,"  —  the  dear 
"  Small !  "  I  wonder  whether  we  should  like  her 
as  well  under  any  other  name.  We  have  given 
quite  a  home-look  to  our  little  cabin,  which  is 
never  without  its  bouquet  of  magnolia,  jessamine, 
and  honeysuckle.  Our  orderlies  gather  the  flow 
ers  as  an  attention  to  "  the  ladies/'  and  every 
now  and  then  Captain  Sawtelle  sends  a  bunch. 

Heavy  orders  for  intrenching-tools  were 
filled  and  sent  forward  last  night.  This  looks 
as  if  a  battle  were  not  in  prospect.  It  is  all 
very  well  for  political  idiots  and  men  at  ease 
to  talk  about  "  cutting  our  way  into  Richmond." 
If  they  want  it  done,  why  don't  they  give 
McClellan  strength  enough  to  do  it  ?  Colonel  M. 
says  that  we  must  trust  him ;  that  whatever  he 
does,  be  it  act  or  wait,  will  be  well  done.  When 
will  the  nation  learn  that  it  is  in  the  hands  of 
its  greatest  man,  and  wait  calmly  for  his  re 
sults,  only  taking  care  in  the  mean  time  to 
strengthen  his  hands  ?  *  I  hope  you  keep  my 

1  It  is  perhaps  as  well  to  say  here  that  my  present  opinion 
of  General  McClellan  is  somewhat  different  from  what  it  was. 


138  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

letters  (for  my  own  benefit).  I  have  no  recol 
lection  of  where  I  have  been  or  what  I  have 
done.  You  can  form  no  idea  of  the  bewilder 
ment  and  doubt  in  which  we  live  as  to  times 
and  seasons,  hours  of  the  day  and  days  of  the 
week.  It  is  really  absurd.  I  am  told  to-day 
is  Thursday ;  but  I  certainly  thought  it  was 
Tuesday. 

"  WILSON  SMALL,"  June  14. 

DEAR  MOTHER, — If  I  can  give  you  a  clear  ac 
count  of  what  occurred  last  night,  I  shall  do  a 
clever  thing ;  for  everybody  is  asking  everybody 
else  if  he  has  any  positive  idea  as  to  what  the 
fuss  was  all  about. 

We  were  waiting  in  our  tent  for  a  train  of 
sick  men  which  had  been  due  more  than  an 
hour.  It  was  nearly  seven  o'clock,  and  every- 

I  still  think  that  he  was  an  able  general,  and  a  noble  and  patri 
otic  man,  who  sought  to  heal  as  well  as  to  conquer.  But  he  was, 
it  seems,  too  slow  for  the  work  he  had  to  do.  He  was  an  accom 
plished  and  careful  soldier,  even  a  great  one  ;  but  he  had  not 
the  genius  of  War,  nor  the  dash  that  sometimes  takes  its  place. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  must  remember  that  no  great  commander 
was  ever  so  trammelled  and  thwarted  by  civilian  ignorance  and 
scheming.  Had  the  powers  ultimately  given  to  General  Grant 
been  intrusted  to  General  McClellan,  he  might,  perhaps,  have 
ended  the  war  in  this  campaign. 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  139 

thing  was  ready  ;  presently  the  train  came  in, 
and  five  men,  bleeding  from  fresh  wounds,  were 
brought  out.  The  train  had  been  fired  into, 
a  quartermaster  had  been  killed,  and  five  of 
the  sick  men  wounded.1  All  this  had  happened 
about  three  miles  from  White  House.  We  did 
not  pay  much  attention  to  the  story,  for  we 
were  busy  giving  and  sending  food  to  the  rest 
of  the  men.  But  presently  Mr.  Olmsted  came 
up  with  an  order  from  Colonel  Ingalls :  "  The 
ladies  will  return  at  once  to  their  boat."  Of 
course  we  obeyed,  but  as  slowly  as  we  could, 
asking  questions  as  we  went  along.  A  second 
order  came :  "  Report  the  ladies  on  board  at 
once."  We  obeyed.  Presently  Mr.  Olmsted  fol 
lowed  with  a  third  order :  "  The  wounded  will 
be  moved  from  the  < Elm  City'  to  the  '  Small' 
instantly ;  the  latter  will  run  down  to  the 
6  Spaulding.'  This  arrangement  is  made,  as 
the  shipping  may  have  to  be  burned.  Put  the 
ladies  behind  the  iron  walls  of  the  'Spaulding.' ' 
Then  came  another  hurrying  order :  "  Let  the 
'  Elm  City'  go  down  with  her  wounded  on 

1  Stuart's  raid.     See  Colonel  von   Borcke's  account  of  this 
"gallant"  deed  in  "Blackwood's  Magazine  "  for  September,  1865. 


140  THE  OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR. 

board,  and  rendezvous  with  the  '  Small '  along 
side  the  '  Spaulding.' '      So  away  we  went. 

But  Mr.  Olmsted  was  not  satisfied.  I  believe 
he  felt  that  our  right  place  was  where  we  might 
be  of  service  ;  and  after  seeing  the  order  obeyed, 
he  took  a  boat  and  rowed  himself  back  to 
the  landing.  The  result  was  that  an  order  was 
sent  down  soon  after  to  bring  the  "  Small " 
back  to  the  wharf  and  take  on  the  sick  men 
who  had  arrived  on  the  train.  So  we  took  a 
detail  and  thirty  mattresses  from  the  "  Spauld 
ing,"  and  went  back  as  fast  as  we  could.  Cap 
tain  Sawtelle  came  on  board  at  once.  Nothing 
very  definite  was  known.  A  gap  had  occurred 
in  our  lines  somewhere  near  Hanover  Court- 
House.  A  regiment  of  cavalry  was  supposed 
to  have  got  through.  A  good  deal  of  harm 
had  been  done.  Our  hearts  beat  for  the  rail 
road-bridges  (two  distinct  fires  could  be  seen), 
and  for  a  moment  we  felt  gloomy.  It  would 
have  been  a  serious  business  to  cut  off  even  one 
day's  supply  to  the  army  ;  it  would  have  played 
into  the  enemy's  hands,  —  perhaps  by  forcing 
on  a  general  engagement.  Captain  Sawtelle 
was  arming  every  man  capable  of  bearing  arms, 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  141 

—  teamsters,  etc.,  —  and  was  preparing  to  burn 
everything,  shipping  and  all,  if  necessary.    Two 
of  our  party,  Mr.  Woolsey  and  Mr.  Mitchell,  vo 
lunteered  their  services,  and  were  under  arms  all 
night.     A  battery  of  artillery  was  hastily  got 
together   of    guns  that  had  arrived  the  night 
before ;    and   this  morning  we  learn   that   the 
Bucktail    Eifles,     Colonel    Biddle's     regiment, 
which   had  gone  up  two  days  earlier,   has  re 
turned   to   guard   the  railroad-bridges.      These 
and  the  track  are  perfectly  safe.     The  telegraph- 
wires  have  been  cut.     The  two  fires  we  saw  were 
only  some  shipping  —  two  or  three  schooners  — 
five  miles  up  the  river.     It  is  said  that  a  body 
of    guerillas    from    the    country   between    the 
Pamunky  and  the   Rappahannock,  hearing   of 
the  dash  of  their  cavalry,  came  across  the  Pa 
munky  on  five  scows,   and  did    some    damage. 
I  wonder  if  they  were  looking  at  us  the  other 
night  from  behind  the  cranes  ! 

This  is  the  resume  of  what  we  have  heard 
from  Captain  Sawtelle,  who  pays  his  morning 
and  evening  momentary  visit  or  look  at  us. 
Now  you  know  all  about  the  affair  historically, 

—  at  least,  as   much   as  anybody  knows ;    but 


142  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

there  's  a  dark,  private  aspect  of  it  to  me,  and 
though  I  dare  say  I  can  tell  it  as  a  joke,  it  is  like 
playing  with  something  that  has  not  yet  lost  its 
sting.  Georgy  and  I  were  highly  indignant  at 
being  sent  away  ;  we  thought  it  shirking  our 
duty,  and  very  inglorious.  .  At  last  our  tongues 
got  loose ;  we  said  all  we  thought,  —  at  least  I 
did.  I  said  more  than  I  thought,  because  I  was 
in  a  passion ;  and  all  I  got  for  it  was  the  sense 
of  having  hurt  and  wounded  Mr.  Olmsted.  Of 
course  he  was  right ;  I  can  see  now  that  he  had 
to  take  care  of  us,  even  though  it  seemed  ab 
surd.  This  happened  as  we  were  going  down 
to  the  "  Spaulding."  Presently  Mr.  Olmsted 
was  missing.  He  had  taken  a  small  boat, 
and  was  rowing  himself  back  to  the  landing. 
I  saw  him  shoot  into  the  darkness,  and  I  felt 
like  a  brute  ;  I  was  so  sorry  for  what  I  had 
said  ;  I  felt  I  had  somehow  goaded  him, — and 
I  thought  of  him,  so  delicate,  and  now  really 
ill,  making  his  way  into  danger  in  a  horrid 
little  boat. 

Just  then  Dr.  Jenkins  told  us  that  if  we  had 
valuables  on  board,  we  had  better  secure  them, 
as  the  "  Small  "  might  have  to  be  burned. 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  143 

While  I  was  getting  my  bags  ready,  I  remem 
bered  that  Dr.  Ware  and  David  Haight  were 
ashore,  in  charge  of  the  sick  who  were  left  in 
the  tents,  and  that  all  their  things  would  be 
burned  unless  somebody  saved  them.  So,  with 
out  further  thought,  I  went  into  the  stateroom 
which  they  shared  together,  and  spreading  a 
huge  shawl  of  Kobert  Ware's  on  the  floor,  I 
proceeded  to  fill  it  with  the  entire  contents  of 
the  room.  I  had  just  finished,  and  was  knot 
ting  the  ends  of  the  shawl  together,  when 
Georgy  came  by.  She  stood  like  a  mocking 
fiend,  gazing  at  that  wretched  blue  bundle ;  she 
drew  such  a  picture  of  the  possible  morrow,  and 
of  my  shame  and  confusion  when  I  should  have 
to  explain  what  I  had  been  about,  that  I  was 
completely  beaten  down  and  humbled  ;  and 
when  Mr.  Olmsted's  order  came,  recalling  us, 
and  I  perceived  that  the  "  Small  "  was  not 
likely  to  be  burned,  I  fell  into  a  perfectly  abject 
state  of  mind.  This  mollified  her.  "  Come," 
said  she,  relenting,  "  there 's  time  enough  ; 
let's  go  to  work  and  put  the  things  back." 
How  grateful  I  felt  to  her  while  I  quickly 
untied  the  "pack/'  as  she  persisted  in  calling 


144  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

it.  I  had  a  general  idea  where  the  coats  and 
trousers  ought  to  go ;  but  where  the  minor 
articles  belonged,  who  could  tell  ?  But  I 
would  n't  show  perplexity  under  Georgy's  eye, 
and  I  popped  them  here  and  there  with  a  sem 
blance  of  order  that  stateroom  did  not  wear 
when  I  went  into  it.  Alas!  This  morning, 
through  the  ventilator,  came  the  fatal  cry : 
"  Haight,  take  your  things  out  of  my  bed ! " 
"Where  's  my  hair-brush?"  "  Where  's  mine ?" 
"  Upon  my  soul,  I  believe  you  've  even  got  my 
tooth-brush  !  "  Oh  !  if  any  one  ever  repented 
himself  of  philanthropy,  I  did  then  ;  and  who 
shall  guarantee  me  that  Georgy  will  not  come 
out  and  tell  the  whole  story,  and  put  me  to 
open  shame  ? 

It  took  a  very  short  time  to  turn  our  little 
home  into  a  hospital.  By  2  A.  M.  the  men  were 
all  on  board,  and  by  four  o'clock  they  were  com 
fortable  for  the  night.  They  are  very  sick,  — 
perhaps  the  worst  set  together  that  I  ever  saw ; 
scarcely  any  are  in  their  right  mind,  some  are 
raving,  one  is  screaming  now  for  "something 
hot,"  "  lucifer-matches."  They  have  been  much 
shaken  by  the  attack  on  the  train,  which  has,  I 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  145 

think,  greatly  aggravated  their  condition.  One 
of  them  died  this  morning,  unconscious,  as  usual, 
and  so  quietly  that  it  was  some  minutes  before 
I  believed  it,  though  Dr.  Ware  said  it  was  so. 
He  was  speechless  when  he  came  into  our 
hands,  —  sent  down  with  no  indication  of  name 
or  regiment ;  and  so  he  dies.  There  is  another 
dying  man  lying  next  to  where  he  lay;  and 
though  his  eyes  are  bright  and  intelligent,  he 
can  give  no  sign,  and  I  cannot  discover  any 
thing  about  him.  So  many  nameless  men  come 
down  to  us,  speechless  and  dying,  that  now  we 
write  the  names  and  regiments  of  the  bad  cases 
and  fasten  them  to  their  clothing,  so  that  if 
they  are  speechless  when  they  reach  other 
hands,  they  may  not  die  like  dogs,  and  be 
buried  in  nameless  graves,  and  remain  forever 
"  missing  "  to  their  friends.  This  was  Georgy's 
thought,  —  so  like  her  !  How  I  love  her  practi 
cal  tenderness ! 

Mr.  Olmsted  is  puzzled  what  to  do  with  these 
men.  There  is  a  standing  order  against  any 
but  wounded  going  upon  the  boats ;  but  they 
can  hardly  be  sent  to  the  Shore  hospital  until 

the  question  as  to  what  this  raid  really  is,  set- 

10 


146  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

ties  itself.  I  have  no  time  to  write  more.  We 
are  short-handed,  and  can  spare  but  little  time 
from  the  men,  and  they,  poor  souls,  are  so 
noisy  and  crazy  that  they  give  us  unusual  care 
and  anxiety.  I  am  now  going  below  to  the 
main-deck  saloon,  where  they  are,  for  the  night- 
watch. 

The  "  Daniel  Webster  "  reported  herself  at 
4  P.  M.  Dr.  Grymes  and  Captain  Bletham  came 
on  board  at  once.  The  latter  was  much  grati 
fied  by  D.  and  A.'s  visit  to  the  ship  at  Boston. 
My  precious  cases  are  on  board ;  but  in  the 
present  condition  of  the  "  Small "  they  must 
remain  on  the  "  Webster." 

IN  OUR  TENT,  June  18. 

DEAR  A.,  —  All  my  delightful  cases  and  let 
ters  are  received.  You  have  just  no  idea  of 
the  pleasure  they  give.  I  wrote  last  on  the 
14th.  Sunday  was  a  very  distressing  day. 
Our  sick  men  were  still  with  us,  for  Mr.  Olm- 
sted  could  neither  get  permission  to  put  them 
on  the  "  Elm  City,"  nor  induce  the  surgeon  of 
the  Shore  hospital  to  send  his  ambulances  for 
them.  Expecting  every  hour  to  move  them, 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  147 

we  were  unable  to  put  them  into  hospital 
clothing;  and  as  they  were  very  restless  and 
crazy,  this  made  our  work  less  satisfactory  than 
usual.  In  all  other  respects  they  were  well 
cared  for. 

The  painfulness  of  the  day  was  greatly  in 
creased  by  a  visit  from  a  Sunday  picnic  of 
Congressmen  and  ladies.  One  of  the  former 
went  to  Mr.  Olmsted  and  complained  to  him 
of  what  he  saw  on  our  boat.  He  said  the  men 
were  in  "  an  awful  state.  I  saw  —  I  saw  with 
my  own  eyes  —  flies  settling  on  them  and  biting 
them !  "  This  gentleman  came  into  the  ward 
with  a  rose  held  to  his  nose ;  and  when  told 
they  were  all  typhoid-fever  cases  ("  That  one  by 
you  is  the  worst  case  I  ever  saw/'  Georgy  said 
maliciously),  he  went  abruptly  away.  Had  he 
stopped  to  examine  the  condition  of  things,  he 
would  have  seen  that  every  man  who  could  not 
brush  the  flies  away  had  a  mosquito-netting 
over  him,  and  all  the  others  had  fans.  The 
thermometer  is  at  90°,  and  the  flies  are  an  Egyp 
tian  plague ;  but  all  was  done  that  could  be 
done  to  alleviate  it.  I  could  see  that  this  affair 
pained  Mr.  Olmsted  exceedingly.  It  was  essen- 


148  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

tially  unjust;  but  the  outward  circumstances 
of  the  case,  as  I  have  stated  them,  did  not  per 
mit  that  ample  refutation  which  a  mere  glance 
into  one  of  the  wards  would  usually  afford.  I 
think  he  felt  it  the  more  as  it  was  our  very  own 
castle  thus  invaded  by  reproach.  But  a  few 
hours  later  a  thing  occurred  which  must  have 
wiped  from  his  mind  the  sting  of  reproach  from 

such  a  quarter.     Colonel ,  who  was  on  the 

"Elm  City/'  very  ill  with  typhoid  fever,  was 
madly  anxious  to  get  home.  He  knew  he  must 
die,  and  he  craved  to  see  his  wife.  The  gentle 
men  of  the  excursion-party  were  asked  to  take 
him  back  on  their  boat.  They  refused  ;  alleg 
ing  that  they  were  "  a  select  party,"  and  "  not 
prepared  to  incur  infection :  "  they  made  the 
ladies  the  ground  of  their  excuse.  So  Mrs. 
Griffin  went  at  midnight  to  the  ladies  and 
begged  them  to  consent  to  take  him  ;  and  of 
course  they  did  so.  I  could  enlarge  upon  this, 
but  the  subject  is  hateful. 

Sunday  evening  we  moved  our  men  to  the 
"  Elm  City,"  where  I  found  them  all  comfort 
ably  placed  on  Monday,  when  I  went  through 
the  wards  with  a  member  of  the  New  England 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  149 

Women's  Association,  who  had  come  down  on 
the  "  Webster "  to  make  up  her  mind  as  to 
whether  we  were  doing  our  duty.  She  went 
back  with  them  on  the  "  Elm  City  "  yesterday. 

Dr.  Henry  J.  Bigelow  arrived  early  in  the 
week.  He  came  on  a  private  mission  from 
the  Secretary  of  War  to  see  and  report  upon 
the  state  of  the  Medical  Department,  and  find 
out  where  the  hitch  really  is.  I  wish  he  had 
come  from  the  Surgeon-General  instead.  The 
Secretary  of  War  is  apt  to  send  missions  of 
private  inquiry  by  which  he  forgets  to  profit ; 
so  that  the  best  man  for  the  work  of  inspection 
is  likely  to  go  back  from  here  and  have  his 
observations  disregarded.  Mr.  Olmsted  has  paid 
him  all  the  attention  in  his  power.  Matters  of 
importance  are,  however,  pending  at  this  mo 
ment  between  Mr.  Olmsted  and  the  Surgeon- 
General,  and  this  throws  some  gene  into  his 
intercourse  with  Dr.  Bigelow.  I  gather  that 
he  cannot  open  himself  freely  to  him.  I  do 
not  know,  of  course,  how  matters  are  between 
Mr.  Olmsted  and  the  Medical  Department,  and 
if  I  did  know  I  should  not  speak  of  them ;  but 
I  may  certainly  say  this  :  that  the  Department 


150  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

feels  the  greatest  gratitude  to  Mr.  Olmsted  for 
what  he  has  done,  and  would  gladly  give  him 
much  wider  power,  if  that  were  what  he  is 
seeking.  That  is  not  his  object,  however ;  in 
deed,  the  object  of  the  Commission  itself  is  not 
sufficiently  understood.  Those  who  admire  its 
wise  and  noble  work  naturally  feel  the  wish 
that  larger  power  should  be  given  to  it.  But 
the  object  of  the  Commission  itself  is  not  this. 
It  seeks  to  bring  the  Government  to  do  what 
the  Government  should  do  for  its  sick  and 
wounded.  Until  that  object  is  accomplished, 
the  Commission  stands  ready  to  throw  itself 
into  the  breach,  as  it  did  during  that  dreadful 
battle-week,  as  it  does  more  or  less  all  the  time. 
The  thing  it  asks  for  is  not  the  gift  of  power, 
but  that  the  Government  should  take  the  work 
away  from  it  by  doing  it  thoroughly  itself.  A 
Medical  Inspector  is  to  be  sent  here  immediately, 
at  Mr.  Olmsted's  earnest  request,  and  we  shall 
see  what  that  will  bring  forth.  But,  after  all, 
I  fear  the  principle  of  active  war  is,  and  per 
haps  must  be,  —  every  marching  man  is  pre 
cious  ;  when  he  drops,  he  's  a  dog.  Ah !  what 
would  have  become  of  him  so  far  without  the 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  151 

Sanitary  Commission  ?  I  am  not  afraid  to  say 
that  no  enterprise  ever  deserved  better  of  the 
people.  Alive  to  the  true  state  of  things,  ever 
aiming  at  the  best  thing  to  be  done,  and  striving 
to  bring  everything  to  bear  towards  that,  it  has 
already  fulfilled  a  great  work,  —  let  those  who 
have  reaped  its  benefits  say  how  great  and  how 
indispensable. 

I  am  sitting  with  Georgy  in  the  tent,  waiting 
for  the  arrival  of  a  train  of  sick  men,  due 
notice  of  which  is  always  telegraphed  to  us 
from  Savage's  Station.  The  "  Wilson  Small  " 
has  dropped  down  the  river  to  coal.  Mrs.  Grif 
fin  is,  I  grieve  to  say,  knocked  up,  with  curious 
symptoms  of  fainting  and  wandering.  Dr. 
Ware  says  she  must  go  home,  and  she  leaves 
on  the  mail-boat  to-morrow,  —  a  most  serious 
loss  to  us  at  any  time,  but  especially  if  an 
emergency  occurs. 

Yesterday  we  did  nothing  special  but  dress 
in  clean  clothes  (I  mean  the  cleanest  we  had) 
and  go  down  to  the  "  Webster,"  where  we 
were  received  with  all  honors,  and  had  a  good 
dinner,  —  Georgy  and  I  eating  an  incredible 
number  of  raspberry  tartlets.  Dr.  Grymes  drank 


152  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

to  us  in  his  happiest  manner  :  "  Ladies,  I 
give  you  a  welcome  where  you  have  a  right ! " 
The  ship  was  dressed  with  magnolia,  honey 
suckle,  and  the  lovely  white  fringe  blossoms,  in 
our  honor.  The  "  Webster  "  is  a  constant  satis 
faction  to  the  Chief,  being  thoroughly  all  right, 
—  thanks  to  Dr.  Grymes  and  Mrs.  Trotter  and 
her  good  captain.1 

IN  OUE  TENT,  June  20. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  For  the  first  time  I  have 
neglected  you,  —  and  not  from  hard  work  either, 
but  from  a  scattering  sort  of  work,  which  has 
left  us  no  time  of  absolutely  needed  rest  in 
which  to  write.  All  your  Newport  cases  have 
arrived ;  also  four  cases  of  brandy  and  one  of 
beef  stock,  marked  "  F.  Gordon  Dexter; "  four 
of  sherry,  from  Mrs.  J.  Howland  Shaw ;  one  of 
lemons,  marked  "Mrs.  Kuhn;"  also  a  case  of 

1  Dr.  Grymes's  health  was  steadily  giving  way.  As  we  looked 
at  him,  so  full  of  energy  and  ardor  in  his  work,  we  used  to  think 
he  knew  he  was  a  dying  man,  and  chose  to  alleviate  death  and 
suffering  in  others  as  long  as  life  was  in  him.  After  the  campaign 
was  over,  he  became  surgeon  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  "  Home  " 
in  Washington.  His  residence  was  a  few  paces  off,  and  he  reso 
lutely  came  to  his  work  until  it  took  him  half  an  hour,  supported 
on  each  side,  to  get  over  that  short  distance  ;  then  he  died. 


THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  153 

assorted  liquors,  and  a  box  of  lemon-squeezers, 
from  the  Honorable  Ezra  (can't  make  out  the 
name),  of  Walpole,  Mass.,  who  says  he  had  seen 
a  letter  of  mine  somewhere,  in  which  I  told 
that  I  had  squeezed  eight  hundred  lemons  on 
one  occasion.  The  cases  sent  by  the  "St.  Mark  " 
are  also  in  my  possession ;  but  for  the  last  three 
days  I  have  had  no  time  to  open  them,  and  I 
won't  sacrifice  my  present  hour  of  writing  to 
do  it  now. 

The  Fourth  Connecticut  came  down  to-day  for 
its  siege-guns.  We,  who  have  seen  the  black 
ness  of  battles,  rejoice,  and  trust  it  is  a  sign 
that  there  may  be  no  more.  God  grant  it  may 
be  so  !  How  deluded  the  body  of  the  Southern 
troops  and  people  have  been  by  their  leaders  ! 
I  go  as  much  as  I  can  among  the  prisoners,  that 
I  may  judge  for  myself  how  they  feel.  I  find 
surprise  their  chief  emotion.  "  I  never  thought 
of  this."  "I  could  change  the  feelings  of  half 
my  county  if  I  told  them  what  I  know  now." 
One  man  told  me  he  had  never  fired  his  gun. 
They  look  shy,  and  are  unwilling  to  meet  your 
eye ;  but  if  you  make  any  way  with  them,  you 
are  almost  sure  to  see  tears  in  theirs.  I  have 


154  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

written  letters  for  several  of  them,  which  Gen 
eral  Wool  and  General  Dix  have  been  very  kind 
in  forwarding  from  Fortress  Monroe  on  the  flag- 
of-truce  boat.  The  men  are  eager  to  write, 
"  because  their  friends  are  thinking  them  so 
badly  treated,  and  they  want  to  tell  them  how 
it  is."  Of  course  there  may  be  exceptions  to 
this  spirit ;  but  I  have,  so  far,  met  with  none. 
Just  now  I  asked  a  handsome  young  fellow, 
with  a  clear  eye  which  at  first  he  rather  veiled, 
if  he  had  all  he  wanted,  — "  All"  he  said ; 
66  more  than  I  deserve  to  have." 

Wednesday,  the  "  Small "  went  down  to  coal, 
and  Georgy  and  Dr.  Ware  and  I  spent  the  day 
in  the  tent,  and  dined  with  our  old  black  aunty 
on  the  "  Elizabeth,"  —  or  the  "  Fiend,"  as  she 
is  commonly  called,  from  her  habit  of  rushing 
up  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night,  making 
unearthly  noises  with  her  steam-pipe.  The 
usual  number  of  men,  about  a  hundred,  came 
down.  The  process  is  this :  I  will  describe  it, 
and  you  can  imagine  it,  once  for  all. 

We  have  thirty-three  Sibley  tents  along  the 
line  of  the  railroad  on  the  other  side  of  the  track. 
On  this  side,  and  just  at  the  head  of  the  wharf, 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  "WAR.  155 

— an  old  scow  and  a  few  planks  which  we  dig 
nify  by  that  name, — stands  the  tent,  filled  with 
stores,  and  the  kitchen  behind  it.  The  "  kitchen  " 
is  al  fresco,  and  consists  solely  of  two  long 
trenches  about  a  foot  deep,  with  forked  upright 
stakes  at  each  end  and  a  pole  across,  on  which 
the  camp-kettles  are  hooked  over  the  fire  built 
in  the  trench  below.  Alongside  the  tent  we 
have  two  large  wall-tents,  where  we  put  the 
worst  cases,  so  as  to  have  them  close  at  hand ; 
the  others,  which  are  mostly  waiting  for  the  hos 
pital  ambulances,  are  put  in  the  Sibley  tents. 
We  take  great  pride  and  satisfaction  in  these 
arrangements.  It  is  true  that  the  tent  is  smoky 
and  hot,  not  pleasantly  odoriferous,  and  filled 
with  flies  ;  but  when  the  smoke  is  very  bad  we 
make  believe  it  kills  the  flies.  In  short,  we 
admit  nothing  evil  of  our  tent ;  and  when  Dr. 
Agnew,  peeping  round  in  the  smoke,  said  in  the 
kindness  of  his  heart :  "  Oh,  how  uncomfortable 
for  you !  "  we  were  seriously  angry  with  him.1 

A  train  arrives,  and  the  principle  on  which 
we  proceed  is  as  follows  :  The  wounded  men 

1  "It  was  not  the  vale  of  Cashmere,"  as  Dr.  Ware  wrote 
me  in  his  last  letter,  just  before  his  death,  "  but  many  dear  asso 
ciations  cluster  round  it." 


156  THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR. 

are  sent  at  once  on  board  whichever  transport 
lies  at  the  wharf  (the  "Small,"  the  "Elizabeth," 
and  the  "  Wicked  Chicken  "  always  lie  outside 
of  the  large  vessel).  As  they  pass  our  tent,  we 
give  them  something  refreshing  or  stimulating, 
as  the  case  may  need.  The  sick  men  are  put 
into  the  tents,  and  we  give  them  a  meal.  They 
ought  to  be  moved  promptly  to  the  Shore  hos 
pital;  but  the  surgeon-in-charge  is  not  prompt, 
so  they  are  often  a  day  or  a  night  in  our 
hands.  This  gives  us  an  average  of  a  hundred 
men  to  feed  and  attend  to  daily ;  but  they  are 
constantly  changing.  Dr.  Ware  has  the  entire 
charge  and  responsibility  of  them  and  of  the 
shipments  upon  our  boats.  As  soon  as  a  train 
comes  in  he  selects  the  cases.  Meantime  we 
despatch,  by  our  four  orderlies,  buckets  of  soup, 
or  tea,  or  milk-porridge,  and  other  food  ;  then 
we  follow  Dr.  Ware  into  the  train  with  the 
inevitable  brandy  and  beef-tea.  The  cars  are 
large,  double  freight-cars.  The  worst  cases  lie 
upon  the  floor  inside ;  the  slight  cases  sit  upon 
the  roof.  Dr.  Ware  is  everything  to  us,  —  so 
sensible,  so  self-sacrificing,  so  prompt,  so  care 
ful.  We  owe  all  the  comfort  of  this  tent  to 


.-e,*^ 

f0$v>vf.f     \f/ 

THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR.  157 


him,  for  he  takes  pains  to  keep  it  well  supplied, 
and  thus  efficient.  His  fault  is  that  he  thinks 
too  little  of  himself ;  and  I  fear  it  will  always 
keep  him  back  in  life. 

On  Thursday  we  went  down  in  the  "  Small  " 
to  Yorktown.  Mr.  Olmsted  wished  to  inspect 
the  "St.  Mark"  (it  ought  to  be  "St.  Luke"),— 
a  large  clipper-ship  sent  down  by  the  Sanitary 
Commission.  The  surgeons  and  ladies  were 
ashore  when  we  arrived,  so  we  could  go  over 
the  ship  with  an  eye  to  her  real  merits.  She  is 
magnificent ;  but  so  wholly  out  of  the  pale  of  the 
necessities  of  our  work  that,  though  we  heartily 
admired,  we  could  not  feel  the  intense  pleasure 
and  sympathy  with  which  we  hail  some  lesser 
good  on  the  other  vessels.  She  is  not  fit  for  trans 
port  service,  drawing  too  much  water  to  get  up 
the  rivers,  and  having  no  steam.  She  should  be 
kept  as  a  floating-hospital  off  Fortress  Monroe ; 
for  that  she  is  perfect,  —  giving  noble  accommo 
dation  for  a  few,  say  two  hundred,  men.  Our 
work,  on  the  other  hand,  requires  us  to  give 
life  and  some  comfort  to  the  many. 

The  Quartermaster,  an  old  friend,  gave  us 
many  valuable  things.  Case  after  case  rattled 


158  THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR. 

on  to  the  "  Small,"  and  tin  pails  almost  in 
abundance.  We  dined  on  board.  Dr.  Draper 
is  in  charge,  —  his  wife  and  Mrs.  George  T. 
Strong  among  the  ladies.  Soon  after  dinner 
a  telegram  arrived,  recalling  Mr.  Olmsted  to 
White  House ;  and  we  had  the  sweetest  run  up 
the  river  by  every  light  imaginable,  —  sunlight, 
sunset,  twilight,  moonlight. 

Orders  had  come  to  send  the  "  Webster  "  and 
the  "Spaulding"  to  Fortress  Monroe  immedi 
ately,  and  empty  the  hospitals  there  as  fast  as 
possible.  Mrs.  Griffin  went  in  the  "Webster," 
which  sailed  at  eleven  o'clock  last  night ;  so 
one  of  our  four  fingers  is  missing. 

To-day  the  Chief  and  the  "  Small "  have  gone 
to  Yorktown  on  "special  business."  Mrs.  M., 
Georgy,  Dr.  Ware,  and  I  are  waiting  in  the  tent 
for  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  now  due.  To 
morrow,  I  fear,  we  shall  have  many  wounded  ; 
heavy  firing  on  our  right  has  been  going  on  all 
the  afternoon,  and  a  good  deal  of  musketry. 

This  is  a  very  rambling  letter  ;  but  it  is  hard 
to  keep  any  ideas  in  one's  head,  being  inter 
rupted  every  tenth  word  by  cooks,  Zouaves, 
and  obnoxious  persons  of  many  kinds,  who  per- 


THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF   WAR.  159 

sist  in  looking  into  the  tent  and  asking  ques 
tions.  This  afternoon,  as  I  was  attending  to 
some  men  in  the  Sibley  tents,  I  came  upon  one 
of  the  exhortative  kind,  who  often  afford  us 
much  amusement.  He  made  a  rapid  survey 
of  the  history  of  the  world,  to  prove  that  no 
women  had  ever  done  as  we  were  doing,  no 
men  had  ever  been  succored  as  they  were 
succored.  Whether  he  was  out  of  his  mind, 
or  simply  one  of  the  irrepressible,  I  could  not 
tell ;  but  he  looked  so  funny,  declaiming  in  his 
hospital  rig,  that  I  slipped  out  of  the  tent,  con 
vulsed  with  laughter,  —  for  which  I  felt  sorry, 
and  rather  ashamed,  a  moment  later,  when  I 
saw  the  tears  in  the  eyes  of  a  gentleman,  new 
to  the  work,  who  was  with  me.  But  we  must 
either  laugh  or  cry ;  and  this  work  teaches  us 
that  we  had  better  laugh,  if  we  mean  to  be 
good  for  anything.  I  hope  I  have  not  seemed 
to  you  heartless  in  the  tone  which  I  have 
taken ;  it  is  that  which  we  all  adopt,  and, 
though  perfectly  genuine,  it  answers  as  a  men 
tal  prophylactic. 

Good-by !  I  mean  to  go  to  sleep.     The  train 
is  not  in,  and  may  not  be  till  morning.     I  have 


160  THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF   WAR. 

learned  to  sleep  on  my  arm,  and  it  is  very 
"  comfy."  As  for  Georgy,  she  curls  herself  up 
anywhere,  like  a  little  gray  kitten,  and  is  asleep 
in  a  minute. 

"WILSON  SMALL,"  June  22. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  Yesterday  was  a  hard  day, 
and  not  a  very  useful  one.  The  result  is  that  I 
am  a  little  befogged  this  morning, — deaf,  drowsy, 
and  dull.  Five  hundred  men  caine  down  last 
night,  —  the  clearings-out  of  the  regimental  hos 
pitals  on  the  right.  Our  gentlemen  were  up 
all  night.  I  was  safe  in  my  berth ;  but  Georgy 
was  in  the  tent  till  3  A.  M.,  though  she  had 
been  up  all  the  night  before. 

The  Great  Mogul,  the  Medical  Inspector, 
Colonel  Yollum,  for  whom  Mr.  Olmsted  has 
been  begging,  has  arrived.  He  is  staying  on 
board  the  "  Small."  He  ranks  every  other  med 
ical  officer  ;  therefore  on  him  our  hopes  depend. 
The  run  to  Yorktown  on  "  special  business " 
was  made  to  give  the  Chief  and  the  Inspector  a 
chance  of  quietly  discussing  the  whole  matter. 
Mr.  Olmsted  has  just  been,  full  of  brightness, 
to  tell  me  that  everything  is  arranged  satis- 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  161 

factorily,  and  to  read  me  the  signed  agree 
ment.  The  Commission  is  to  take  :  1.  All  badly 
wounded  men,  all  amputations  and  compound 
fractures  of  the  lower  extremities,  and  all  other 
cases  which  ought  not  to  travel  at  first  (say 
five  hundred,  —  a  large  estimate),  and  keep  them, 
on  board  the  "Knickerbocker"  and  the  "St. 
Mark,"  in  the  river  until  they  can  be  moved. 
It  engages  to  spend  a  sum  not  exceeding  ten 
thousand  dollars  on  the  means  of  carrying  out 
this  first  item.  2.  It  agrees  to  receive  at  Fortress 
Monroe  three  thousand  other  bad  cases  able  to 
bear  transportation,  whenever  a  battle  occurs ; 
and  four  thousand  five  hundred  more  within 
twelve  days  of  it,  and  transport  them  to  New 
York,  Washington,  or  elsewhere. 

Thus,  you  see,  the  Commission  gains  the 
certainty  that  the  worst  cases  and  the  greatest 
suffering  shall  be  under  its  own  eye  and  care. 
The  rest  —  the  slightly  wounded,  or  those  so 
wounded  as  to  be  able  to  help  themselves  —  are 
the  ones  that  are  left  to  the  Government.  The 
country  may  feel  assured  that  when  the  great 
battle  occurs,  provision  is  made  for  those  who 

shall  suffer  most  ;  and  the  Commission  feels  that 

11 


162  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR. 

the  country  will  provide  that  it  shall  not  fall 
short  in  its  engagement.  This  enables  us  to 
contemplate  a  great  battle  with  less  of  a  night 
mare  feeling  than  we  have  had  while  there  was 
nothing  to  expect  but  a  repetition  of  past  scenes. 
We  feel  that  something  is  impending ;  the  clear 
ing  out  of  the  hospitals,  the  arrangements  thus 
decisively  made  for  the  wounded,  all  seem  to 
point  to  a  corning  emergency.  Oh !  can  we 
help  dreading  it? 

General  Van  Vliet  has  just  been  here, — a  jolly 
old  gentleman,  with  his  shock  of  yellow-white 
hair,  and  his  nice,  old-fashioned  politesse  for 
"  the  ladies."  We  fire  a  volley  of  questions 
at  him.  First,  and  before  all  else,  "  How  is 
the  General  ? "  (meaning,  of  course,  General 
McClellan.)  "Ho !  he's  well;  quite  got  over  that 
fever  of  yours, — what  do  you  call  it,  typhoid  ? " 
Then  we  try  to  get  out  of  him  some  information 
about  the  state  of  affairs.  He  said  he  dined  at 
General  Porter's  headquarters  with  several  of 
the  corps  commanders  yesterday,  and  it  was 
universally  agreed  that  General  Porter's  position 
was  not  tenable  any  longer ;  that  our  line  was 
far  too  long  (I  told  you  that  our  right  was 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR,  163 

stretched  out  to  touch  McDowell).  "Well," 
says  the  General,  "  Porter  is  in  what  you  may 
call  a  deadlock,  —  cant  get  across  the  river; 
there 's  a  battery  "  (making  a  lunge  at  our  best 
chair).  "  What  they'll  do  will  be  to  try  and 
turn  our  flank.  Perhaps  they  '11  do  it ;  per 
haps  not."  "And  we  ?  "  we  cried.  "Oh,  you!" 
he  said,  with  his  jolly  laugh,  "  you  'II  have  to 
cut  and  run  as  best  you  can,  and  we  'II  go  into 
Richmond."  "Shall  we  go  up  the  James  River?" 
"  How  are  you  going  into  Richmond  ?  "  "  Has 
Burn  side  got  Fort  Darling  ?  "  Here  the  General 
became  impenetrable,  but  looked  so  profoundly 
wise  that  if  he  did  not  tell  his  secret,  he  at 
least  told  that  he  had  one. 

Captain  Sawtelle  sent  me  a  present  of  mint 
to-day  (his  orderly  could  not  restrain  a  smile 
as  he  gave  it  to  me),  and  the  Captain  came 
just  now  with  an  eye,  I  fear,  to  that  improper 
thing  called  a  "  mint-julep."  You  may  think  it 
very  vulgar,  but  let  me  tell  you  it  is  very  good ; 
and  you  would  think  so  too  if  you  had  been 
up  all  night,  with  the  thermometer  at  90°. 
Georgy  is  flitting  about,  putting  things  to  rights 
(or  wrongs)  with  as  much  energy  as  if  she  had 


164  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

not  been  up  two  nights.  She  has  hunted  me 
into  the  smallest  corner  of  the  cabin,  while  she 
dusts  and  decorates  the  rest.  Her  activity  is 
a  never-ending  marvel  to  me.  I  saw  her  to 
day  spring  from  the  ground  to  the  floor  of  a 
freight-car,  with  a  can  of  beef -tea  in  one  hand, 
her  flask  in  the  other,  and  a  row  of  tin  cups 
tied  round  her  waist.  Our  precious  flasks  ! 
They  do  us  good  service  at  every  turn.  We 
wear  them  slung  over  our  shoulders  by  a  bit 
of  ribbon  or  an  end  of  rope.  If,  in  the  "  long 
hereafter  of  song/'  some  poet  should  undertake 
to  immortalize  us,  he  '11  do  it  thus,  if  he 's  an 
honest  man  and  sticks  to  truth  :  — 

A  lady  with  a  flask  shall  stand, 
Beef- tea  and  punch  in  either  hand,  — 
Heroic  mass  of  mud 
And  dirt  and  stains  and  blood  ! 

This  matter  of  dirt  and  stains  is  becoming 
very  serious.  My  dresses  are  in  such  a  state  that 
I  loathe  them,  and  myself  in  them.  From  chin 
to  belt  they  are  yellow  with  lemon-juice,  sticky 
with  sugar,  greasy  with  beef-tea,  and  pasted 
with  milk-porridge.  Farther  down,  I  dare  not 
inquire  into  them.  Somebody  said,  the  other 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  165 

day  (a  propos  of  what,  I  forget),  that  he  wished 
to  kiss  the  hem  of  my  garment.  I  thought 
of  the  condition  of  that  article,  and  shuddered. 
This  state  of  "  things  "  has  reached  its  climax. 
"Georgy,"  I  said  the  other  day,  "what  am  I 
to  do  ?  I  cant  put  on  that  dress  again,  and 
the  other  is  a  great  deal  worse."  "  I  know 
what  I  shall  do,"  says  Georgy,  who  is  never 
at  a  loss,  and  suggests  the  wildest  things  in 
the  calmest  way  :  "  Dr.  Agnew  has  some  flannel 
shirts ;  he  is  going  back  to  New  York,  and  can't 
want  them.  I  shall  get  him  to  give  me  one." 
Accordingly,  Santa  Georgeanna  has  appeared  in 
an  easy  and  graceful  costume,  looking  espe 
cially  feminine.  I  took  the  hint,  and  have 
followed  suit  in  a  flannel  shirt  from  the  hos 
pital  supplies ;  and  now,  having  tasted  the 
sweets  of  that  easy  garment,  we  shall  dread  civ 
ilization  if  we  have  to  part  with  what  we  call 
our  "  Agnews." 

Just  as  I  was  writing  the  last  words,  Dr. 
Coolidge  came  on  board.  I  was  delighted  to 
see  him.  He  has  a  sad  story  from  his  place  of 
action, — as  sad  as  ours  ;  as  sad  as  all  that  come 
from  honest  hearts  and  capable  heads  wherever 


166  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

they  are.     But  let  us  hope  for  better  things  to 
come,  —  especially  to-day. 

Good-by  !  I  have  so  many  letters  to  write 
that  sometimes  I  feel  as  if  I  could  not  write 
another  word.  I  have  twelve  lying  by  me  now, 
ready  to  go  off,  —  soldiers'  letters,  and  answers 
to  the  friends  of  the  dead.  We  receive  such 
pathetic,  noble  letters  from  the  parents  and 
friends  of  those  who  have  died  in  our  care, 
and  to  whom  it  is  a  part  of  our  duty  to  write. 
They  will  never  cease  to  be  a  sad  and  tender 
memory  to  us.  The  mothers'  are  the  most 
noble  and  unselfish;  the  wives'  the  most  pa 
thetic, —  so  painfully  full  of  personal  feeling. 

[The  letters  of  the  following  week  are  missing. 
The  mails  were  stopped  on  account  of  the  prepara 
tions  for  the  "  change  of  base,"  and  probably  the 
letters  were  lost  in  them.  The  above  is  the  last  letter 
mailed  from  White  House  which  came  to  hand  ;  the 
next  was  brought  down  on  the  "  Small,"  and  mailed 
from  Fortress  Monroe.] 

"  WILSON  SMALL,"  OFF  WHITE  HOUSE, 
Friday  Afternoon,  June  27. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  Yesterday  we  went  down 
the  river,  at  Captain  Sawtelle's  request,  to  clear 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  167 

the  way,  order  the  transports  and  barges  quietly 
down,  and  prevent  confusion.  All  the  steamers 
towed  all  the  sailing-vessels.  Imagine  a  fleet 
of  several  hundred  vessels  streaming  down  the 
shining  river.  The  Painunky  twists  and  turns 
so  much  that  one  day,  after  passing  the  "  Web 
ster"  on  her  voyage  down,  we  met  her  again, 
half  an  hour  later,  with  only  a  narrow  belt  of 
land  and  a  few  trees  between  us. 

We  returned  last  evening  and  found  the 
whole  place  transformed.  All  the  trees  along 
the  shore  for  half  a  mile  had  been  cut  down 
and  toppled  over  into  the  river.  The  gunboats 
were  drawn  up  ready  for  action,  with  their 
guns  pointed  to  sweep  the  plain  laid  bare  by 
the  felling  of  the  trees.  Every  hospital  tent, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  of  them,  was  down.  All 
articles  of  value,  commissary  stores,  ordnance 
stores,  medical  stores,  etc.,  were  on  transports 
and  barges,  and  on  their  way  down  the  river. 
Nothing  was  left  but  the  Quartermaster's  De 
partment  tents,  our  tent,  the  camp  of  the  Ninety- 
third  New  York  Regiment,  and  a  few  stores 
and  sutlers'  quarters.  Soon  after,  we  saw  the 
dear  tent  dismantled  before  our  eyes,  all  her 


168  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

contents  going  on  board  the  "  Elizabeth,"  —  Dr. 
Ware  rescuing  for  me,  at  the  last  moment,  my 
invaluable  Lund's  patent  corkscrew. 

The  truth  is,  the  whole  thing  has  been  pre 
paring  for  days.  Captain  Sawtelle  told  us  this 
morning  that  seven  hundred  thousand  rations 
and  a  large  amount  of  forage  were  sent  up  the 
James  River  a  week  ago.  This  is  doubtless  a 
masterly  strategic  movement  of  McClellan's, 
compelled  by  the  want  of  reinforcements.  As 
for  what  is  going  on  with  the  army  to-day,  it 
would  be  simple  folly  to  attempt  to  give  you 
any  account  of  it.  The  wildest  and  most  con 
tradictory  rumors  are  afloat.  We  lie  at  the 
wharf,  and  all  around  us  are  people  eager  to 
tell  absurd  and  exaggerated  stones.  I  make 
it  a  rule  to  believe  nothing  that  I  do  not  pick 
up  from  Captain  Sawtelle.  Yesterday  there 
was  an  impression  that  Stonewall  Jackson  was 
coming  down  upon  us  to  destroy  this  depot ; 
and  that  has  hastened  the  removal  which  was 
already  prepared. 

Stripped  of  all  exaggeration,  I  suppose  the 
truth  is  this :  General  Porter,  being  flanked  in 
immense  force,  has  wheeled  round  and  back. 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  169 

He  crossed  the  Chickahominy  at  four  o'clock 
this  morning.  The  whole  army  is  now  across 
that  river ;  the  enemy  are  in  part  on  this  side  of 
it.  We  may  now  go  into  Richmond  on  the  left, 
—  Burnside  co-operating.  In  that  case  this 
base  of  supplies  will  be  more  available  up  the 
James  River.  Meantime  Colonel  Ingalls  and 
Captain  Sawtelle  are  sending  forward  supplies 
in  trains  and  army-wagons  as  fast  as  possible. 
The  troops  have  six  days'  rations  in  their  knap 
sacks.  The  enemy  evidently  hope  to  ruin  us  by 
seizing  this  station,  —  hitherto  the  sole  source 
of  supply  to  our  army.  Instead  of  which,  every 
thing  has  been  sent  away ;  the  few  things  that 
remain  are  lying  on  the  wharves,  ready  to  go  on 
board  a  few  vessels  at  the  last  moment.  The 
"  Elm  City"  is  waiting  for  the  Ninety-third  New 
York  Regiment,  which  is  stationed  here  on  guard- 
duty.  We  have  had  our  steam  up  all  day,  ready 
to  be  off  at  a  moment's  notice;  and  even  as  I 
write  comes  the  order  to  start,  the  enemy  hav 
ing  got  the  railroad.  And  so  rapidly  have  we 
gone,  that  between  writing  the  words  "  Elm 
City  "  and  "  railroad  "  we  are  off ! 

Such  a  jolly  panic!     Men  rushing  and  tearing 


170  THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR. 

down  to  the  wharves,  — these  precious  civilians 
and  sutlers  and  "  scalawags  "  !  The  enemy  are. 
in  force  three  miles  from  us  ;  they  have  seized 
the  railroad,  and  cut  the  telegraph.  We  pri 
vately  hope  to  get  a  glimpse  of  them  as  we  go 
down  the  river ;  it  would  be  something  to  say  that 
we  had  seen  the  Confederate  army  of  Richmond  ! 

We  have  just  enjoyed  the  fun  of  seeing 
the  last  of  the  shore-people  rushing  on  board 
schooners  and  steamers, — the  former  all  yelling 
for  "  a  tow."  I  never  laughed  more  than  to 
see  the  "  contrabands  "  race  down  from  the  quar 
ters  and  shovel  into  barges,  —  the  men  into  one, 
the  women  into  another.  The  "  Canonicus " 
stayed  behind  to  carry  off  Colonel  Ingalls  and 
Captain  Sawtelle,  who  are  highly  pleased  with 
the  way  the  whole  thing  has  been  done,  —  as 
well  they  may  be,  for  it  reflects  the  greatest 
credit  upon  them. 

All  our  army  is  now  across  the  Chicka- 
hominy :  General  Porter  crossed  at  four  this 
morning ;  only  General  Stoneman  and  the  cav 
alry  are  this  side  of  the  river.  The  order  which 
finally  moved  us  was  in  consequence  of  a  mes 
sage  from  General  Stoneman  to  General  Casey, 


THE   OTHER   SIDE  OF    WAR.  171 

which  came  by  mounted  messenger  while  Mr. 
Olmsted  was  with  the  latter.  It  said  :  "  I  hold 
the  enemy  in  check  at  Tunstall's  [three  miles 
from  White  House,  on  the  railway],  and  shall 
for  a  short  time.  I  shall  then  retreat  by  White 
House."  Then  the  great  gun  of  the  "  Sebago  " 
boomed  out,  and  we  all  slipped  our  moorings. 
The  gunboats  were  in  line  of  battle ;  we  passed 
between  them  and  the  shore  ;  the  men  were 
beat  to  quarters,  and  standing  at  their  guns,  — 
the  great  ferocious  guns ! 

We  had  scarcely  turned  the  first  bend  of  the 
river  before  we  heard  explosions,  and  saw  the 
smoke  and  fire  of  the  last  things  burning,  —  such 
as  locomotives,  cars,  a  few  tents,  whiskey,  etc. 
Before  leaving,  we  saw  clouds  of  dust,  and  Gen 
eral  Stoneman's  baggage-train  came  trotting  in  ; 
and  at  the  same  moment  a  corral  of  invalid 
horses  and  mules,  kept  here  by  the  Quartermas 
ter's  Department,  seven  hundred  of  them,  were 
let  loose  and  driven  towards  Cumberland.  The 
last  I  saw  of  the  White  House,  General  Casey 
was  sitting  on  the  piazza,  and  the  signal-men 
on  the  roof  were  waving  the  pretty  signals, 
which  were  being  answered  by  the  gunboats. 


172  THE  OTHER   SIDE  OF  WAR. 

And  now  we  are  streaming  down  the  winding 
river;  the  "Elm  City"  ahead,  with  two  or 
three  schooners  ;  the  little  "  Wissahickon  "  rac 
ing  along  as  fast  as  she  can  go,  like  a  crab,  and 
blessing  herself  that  she  is  too  little  to  be  de 
tained  for  "  a  tow."  By  and  by  we  come,  haul 
ing  slowly  two  big  schooners ;  then  comes  the 
"  Daniel  Webster,"  towing  ammunition-barges  ; 
after  her  the  "  Yanderbilt,"  towing  something 
of  which  I  can  see  only  the  masts  above  the 
trees  as  the  river  winds.  At  each  bend  there 
is  an  excitement.  Somebody  is  sure  to  be  with 
in  an  ace  of  getting  foul  of  somebody  else. 
The  smoke  at  White  House  is  growing  denser 
and  denser,  and  we  hear  cannon,  —  which  we 
take  to  mean  that  the  gunboats  are  getting  a 
chance  at  the  enemy. 

The  "  Spaulding  "  here  comes  quietly  up  the 
river,  and  asks,  bewildered,  for  orders.  Mr. 
Olmsted  replies  :  "  Go  up  for  the  first  heavy 
tow  you  can  find,  and  report  at  Yorktown." 
So  the  Commission,  having  no  sanitary  business 
on  hand,  does  its  best  for  the  service  in  another 
way. 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR.  173 

[To  this  letter  I  venture  to  add  the  following 
extract  from  one  written  some  months  later  by  the 
Chief  of  the  party  who  left  White  House  that  Friday 
evening,  June  27,  1862  :  — 

"  All  night  we  sat  on  the  deck  of  the  '  Small/ 
slowly  moving  away,  watching  the  constantly  in 
creasing  cloud  and  the  fire-flashes  above  the  trees 
toward  White  House;  watching  the  fading  out  of 
what  had  been  to  us,  through  those  strange  weeks,  a 
sort  of  home  where  we  had  worked  together  and  been 
happy, —  a  place  which  is  sacred  to  some  of  us  now 
for  its  intense  living  remembrances,  and  for  the 
hallowing  of  them  all  by  the  memory  of  one  who, 
through  months  of  death  and  darkness,  lived  and 
worked  in  self-abnegation ;  lived  in  and  for  the  suf 
ferings  of  others,  and  finally  gave  himself  a  sacrifice 
for  them."1] 

"WILSON  SMALL,"  OFF  FORTRESS  MONROE, 
Saturday,  June  28. 

DEAR  A.,  —  You  will  see  my  letter  to  mother, 
which  gives  an  account  of  the  removal  of  the 
depot  at  White  House.  "We  left  last  evening  at 
the  last  moment,  and  rendezvoused  for  the 
night  off  West  Point.  Captain  Sawtelle  sent  us 

1  Dr.  Robert  Ware,  who  died  at  his  post,  as  surgeon  of  the 
Forty-fourth  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  during  the  siege  of  Wash 
ington,  N.  C.,  March  12,  1863,  aged  twenty-seven. 


174  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

off  earl}7  from  there  with  despatches  for  Fort 
ress  Monroe.  This  gave  us  the  special  fun  of 
being  the  first  to  come  leisurely  into  the  panic 
then  raging  at  Yorktown.  The  "  Small "  was 
instantly  surrounded  by  terror-stricken  boats  ; 
the  people  of  the  big  "  St.  Mark  "  leaned  over 
their  bulwarks  to  question  us.  Nothing  could 
be  more  delightful  than  to  be  as  calm  and 
monosyllabic  as  we  were,  —  partly  from  choice, 
and  partly  under  orders  from  Colonel  Ingalls. 
They  knew  nothing,  except  the  fact  that  the 
enemy  had  possession  of  White  House.  It  seems 
that  General  Van  Alen,  commanding  at  York- 
town,  had  telegraphed  to  Colonel  Ingalls  after 
we  left  White  House,  and  received  from  our 
successors  a  polite  request  to  "  go  to  —  " 

We  find  no  news  here  at  the  Fortress.  We 
hoped  to  meet  some  from  the  James  River ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  it  is  we  who  have  brought  all 
the  news  as  yet.  Our  eyes  are  strained  towards 
the  James,  and  every  time  a  black  hull  shows 
in  that  direction  we  are  feverish  with  anxiety 
and  hope.  The  universal  feeling  here  is  that 
this  movement  of  McClellan's  is  a  grand  stroke 
to  wring  a  triumph  out  of  adverse  circum- 


THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  175 

stances.  I  fed  it  is  so.  "  What  profit  lies  in 
barren  faith  ?  "  was  the  thought  I  fell  asleep 
with  and  dreamed  of  all  night. 

Meantime  we  are  here  in  Hampton  Roads, 
breathing  life  in  the  salt  air.  May  I  never  see 
the  pretty  poisonous  Pamunky  again !  Keep 
my  room  ready  for  me  ;  I  may  be  home  any 
day.  Oh,  to  sleep  in  a  bed  once  more  !  It 
seems  too  great  a  rest  ever  to  be  reached.  I 
am  writing  on  the  upper  deck  at  3  A.  M., 
looking  out  upon  the  dawn,  which  slowly  shows 
me,  one  by  one,  the  places  we  have  read  of,  — 
the  Rip-Raps,  Sewall's  Point,  Craney  Island,  and 
the  ruins  of  the  old  church  at  Hampton.1 

OFF  NORFOLK,  Sunday  Evening,  June  29. 

We  are  coaling  here  to-night,  and  leave  at 
daybreak  for  Harrison's  Bar,  James  River, 
where  our  gunboats  are  said  to  be.  We  hope 

1  How  well  I  remember  the  night  when  this  letter  was  written, 
and  the  feelings  which  were  not  expressed  in  it !  Our  minds  had 
been  strained  to  the  utmost,  and  the  disappointment  and  uncer 
tainty  striking  sharply  upon  them  were  more  than  we  could  bear. 
I  remember  well  what  a  dreadful  day  we  passed  off  Fortress 
Monroe.  At  night  I  could  not  sleep,  but  went  out  and  sat  on  the 
deck  and  wrote  by  the  light  of  my  lantern,  and  wondered  if  my 
mind  were  leaving  me,  and  whether  it  would  right  itself  again. 


176  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

to  get  farther  up,  but  General  Dix  warns  us 
that  it  is  not  safe.  What  are  we  about  to 
learn?  No  one  here  can  tell. 

OFF  BERKLEY,  HARRISON'S  BAR,  JAMES  RIVER, 
Tuesday,  July  1,  1862. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  We  arrived  here  yesterday 
to  hear  the  thunder  of  the  battle  *  and  to  find 
the  army  just  approaching  this  landing.  Last 
night  it  was  a  verdant  shore ;  to-day  it  is  a 
dusty  plain.  The  feelings  with  which  we 
came  up  the  James  River  I  can't  describe,  our 
anxiety,  excitement,  and  breathless  desire  to 
know  something  were  so  great.  Not  a  vessel 
was  in  sight  after  we  left  Newport  News,  except 
the  "  Canonicus,"  Quartermaster's  Department 
boat,  which  was  just  ahead  of  us.  No  one 
could  guess  what  knowledge  any  moment  might 
bring  to  us. 

We  were  just  admiring  a  fine  old  colonial 
house,  when  some  one  standing  in  the  bows 
cried  out :  "  I  see  something  white  among 
the  trees  to  the  right ! "  and  in  a  few  minutes 
more  we  made  them  out  to  be  army- wagons. 

1  Of  Malvern  Hill. 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  177 

We  had  met  our  army  !  What  next  were  we 
to  learn  ?  Never  shall  I  forget  the  look  of  the 
first  officers  who  came  on  board,  —  one  a  major, 
the  other  a  chaplain.  They  were  gaunt  and 
haggard,  their  hair  stood  oui  from  their  heads 
stiffened  with  dust  and  dirt,  their  faces  were 
nearly  black,  and  to  their  waists  they  were 
literally  moulded  in  Virginia  clay.  "  Oh !  what 
is  this  ?  "  we  cried.  "  Is  it  a  defeat  ?  "  "  De 
feat  !  No ;  we  have  retreated,  but  we  never 
turned  our  backs  on  them.  We  have  faced  and 
fought  and  beaten  them  for  five  days !  " 

Just  as  we  arrived,  General  McClellan  came 
down  on  the  "  Galena  "  to  see  Colonel  Ingalls. 
Think  what  a  relief  it  must  have  been  to  his 
anxious  mind  to  learn  the  perfect  success  of  our 
removal  from  White  House,  and  to  know  that 
supplies  were  already  here,  and  following  us  up 
the  river,  for  his  exhausted  army !  I  saw  the 
gunboat  he  was  on,  but  I  did  not  see  him ;  and 
he  was  gone  almost  immediately. 

The  "  Spaulding  "  has  just  come  up  the  river 
and  gone  ahead  of  us  (Miss  Whetten  and  Mrs. 
Balestier  on  board) ;  her  iron  sides  can  carry  her 

safely  past  the  rifle-pits  which  line  the  shore,  and 

12 


178  THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR. 

Mr.  Olmsted  thinks  her  stores  may  be  service 
able  higher  up.  Dr.  Jenkins  has  gone  with 
her  to  judge  for  himself.  No  one  can  tell  what 
work  there  is  for  us  ;  the  wounded  have  not 
come  in. 

"WILSON  SMALL,"  HARRISON'S  LANDING, 
July  3. 

DEAR  A.,  —  As  I  write  I  glance  from  time  to 
time  at  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  massed  on  the 
plain  before  me,  —  an  army  driven  from  its  po 
sition  because  it  could  not  get  reinforcements 
to  render  that  position  tenable ;  forced  every 
day  of  its  retreat  to  turn  and  give  battle ;  an 
army  just  one  third  less  than  it  was :  and 
yet  it  comes  in  from  seven  days'  fighting, 
marching,  fasting,  in  gallant  spirits,  and  making 
the  proud  boast  for  itself  and  its  commander 
that  it  has  not  only  marched  with  its  face  back 
ward  to  the  enemy,  but  has  inflicted  three  times 
the  loss  it  has  borne,  and  that  the  little  spot  of 
its  refuge  rings  with  its  cheers. 

And  yet  the  sad  truth  cannot  be  concealed  : 
our  position  is  very  hazardous.  What  I  hear 
said  is  such  as  this :  "  Unless  we  have  rein 
forcements,  what  can  we  do  ?  Must  McClellan 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR.  179 

fight  another  bloody  battle  in  a  struggle  for  life, 
or  surrender?  Give  us  reinforcements,  and 
all  is  well.  We  have  got  the  right  base  now. 
We  could  not  have  it  at  first ;  we  made  an 
other  ;  that  other  the  Government  made  it  im 
possible  for  us  to  maintain.  Day  by  day  we 
saw  it  growing  untenable.  We  now  have  the 
true  base  of  operations  against  Richmond.  The 
sacrifice  ?  Yes  !  but  who  compelled  it  ?  The  na 
tion  must  see  to  that.  The  army  and  McClellan 
have  done  their  part,  and  nobly  have  they  done 
it.  Let  them  now  be  strengthened,  and  all  is 
well,  or  better  than  before."  This  is  the  one 
tone.  No  wonder  that  they  feel  in  spirits, 
they  have  done  their  duty ;  and  I  look  in  their 
poor  worn  faces  and  feel  that  their  deepest 
honor  in  life  will  be  that  they  belonged  to  the 
beaten  Army  of  the  Potomac  —  and  yet,  not 
beaten  ;  everything  that  that  is,  except  precisely 
the  thing  it  is. 

I  am  sitting  on  deck.  Poor  Miss  Lowell, 
whose  gallant  brother  was  killed  yesterday,  is 
beside  me.  She  belongs  to  the  "Daniel  Web 
ster,"  which  is  to  load  up  this  afternoon.  We 
are  lying  a  stone's  throw  from  a  long  wharf,  and 


180  THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR. 

a  little  in-shore  of  it.  My  eye  can  follow  the 
lines  within  which  our  army  lies.  The  immedi 
ate  prospect  is  a  sandy  shore,  with  a  sandy  slope 
behind  it,  up  and  down  which  the  cavalry  are 
ceaselessly  passing  to  water  and  swim  their 
horses  in  the  river.  At  the  head  of  the  wharf 
are  General  Keyes's  headquarters ;  to  the  right 
are  General  Franklin's;  and  a  little  farther 
back,  General  Porter's ;  while  the  eighth  of  a 
mile  back  upon  the  left,  General  Headquarters 
are  said  to  be.  The  long  wharf  is  a  moving 
mass  of  human  beings  :  on  one  side,  a  stream 
of  men  unloading  the  commissariat  and  other 
stores ;  on  the  other,  a  sad  procession  of  wound 
ed,  feebly  crawling  down  from  the  Harrison 
House  and  along  the  beach  and  wharf  to  go  on 
board  the  transports.  The  medical  authorities 
are  doing  well  by  them.  The  Harrison  House  is 
made  into  a  hospital,  and  the  men  are  comfort 
able  (so  say  our  gentlemen,  who  have  been 
among  them) ;  the  slight  cases  are  lying  on  the 
lawn  and  under  the  trees.  To-day  —  thank  God 
for  the  great  mercy  !  —  is  cloudy,  without  rain. 
I  know  nothing  of  them  personally.  We  women 
are  not  yet  permitted  to  go  ashore,  and  I  try  to 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  181 

believe,  as  I  am  told,  that  it  is  impossible  we 
should. 

A  new  Medical  Director  of  the  army  has  been 
appointed,  for  which  we  are  deeply  thankful. 
He  is  now  on  board  the  "  Small,"  and  has  just 
stood  near  me  for  a  few  moments,  talking  to 
some  one,  so  that  I  could  observe  him,  —  one 
looks  into  faces  so  much  here  !  His  gave  me  a 
sad  calmness.  Such  a  worn  face,  —  worn  in  the 
cause  of  suffering;  full,  it  seemed  to  me,  of  a 
strong  earnestness  in  his  work.  How  much  at 
this  moment  is  freshly  laid  upon  him  ! l  I  can't 
tell  you  anything  of  my  own  knowledge  about 
the  wounded ;  but  I  judge  from  what  I  am  told 
that  there  is  not  much  suffering,  and  no  privation 
among  those  who  are  here.  They  are  chiefly 
slightly  wounded  and  exhausted  men.  But 
where  are  the  others  ?  Alas !  where  ?  TJiis  is 
war,  and  there 's  no  more  to  be  said  about  it. 

1  Dr.  Letterman.  Soon  after  his  appointment  he  reorganized 
his  department,  remodelled  the  medical  corps,  established  a  plan 
for  division  field-hospitals  after  a  battle,  and  got  an  efficient 
ambulance  system  into  good  working  order.  Thus  when  the  bat 
tles  of  Antietam,  Fredericksburg,  Chancellorsville,  etc.,  occurred, 
the  Medical  Department,  its  surgeons  and  supplies,  were  well 
prepared,  and  nothing  at  all  like  the  suffering  after  Fair  Oaks 
occurred  again. 


182  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

But  I  was  telling  you  what  I  see  from  the 
deck  as  I  sit  writing,  —  of  course  with  countless 
interruptions  and  runnings  below  to  give  this 
poor  surgeon  or  that  poor  chaplain  as  many 
comforts  for  their  sick  men  as  they  can  carry  off 
in  their  saddle-bags,  or  tied  up  in  pillow-cases. 
Now,  suppose  I  tell  you  that  I  am  seeing  and 
hearing  war  at  this  moment  in  the  shape  of 
shells  bursting  within  our  lines  directly  in  front 
of  me !  And  there 's  the  wonderful  little  "  Moni 
tor  "  firing  her  great  eleven-inch  gun  —  there  it 
goes,  boom  !  and  then  the  screwing,  screaming, 
rushing  sound  of  the  great  rifle-shell!  Talk  of 
wonders  !  there  never  was  anything  in  that  line 
like  the  "  Monitor."  You  don't  imagine  what  a 
little  tray  of  a  thing  she  is,  —  I  did  n't.  Why, 
the  sides  of  her  captain's  gig,  which  is  towing 
aft,  are  higher  than  hers  !  She  lay  close  by  us 
for  an  hour  this  morning,  and  at  first  I  could 
not  believe  she  was  the  real  thing. 


CHESAPEAKE  BAT,  Friday,  July  4. 

WHILE  I  was  writing  the   above   letter   Mr. 
Olmsted  came  out  from  a  long  interview  with 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  183 

Dr.  Letterman,  the  new  Medical  Director,  in 
which  the  latter  had  urged  him  to  go  to  Wash 
ington  and  see  and  advise  the  Surgeon-General 
about  the  state  of  things  here.  So  Colonel  and 
Mrs.  M.  were  put  on  board  the  "Daniel  Web 
ster"  (then  loading  to  sail  that  night),  we  took 
Mrs.  Trotter  in  exchange,  Doctors  Ware,  Cool- 
idge,  and  Jenkins  were  left  on  the  "  Elizabeth  " 
to  misery  and  business,  and  we  came  off  at  once. 
We  passed  the  "  Monitor,"  roaring  and  whist 
ling  away,  at  one  of  the  doubtful  points  of 
our  position.  I  looked  down  upon  her  as  we 
passed :  she  is  literally  nothing  but  a  flat  tray, 
a  foot  and  a  half  out  of  water,  with  what  looks 
like  a  small  gasometer  in  the  middle  of  her. 

As  we  passed  Fortress  Monroe  this  morning 
we  heard  of  the  President's  call  for  three  hun 
dred  thousand  men.  Very  good ;  but  we  wish 
he  would  send  fifty  thousand  here  at  once. 


"  WILSON  SMALL,"  HARRISON'S  LANDING, 
Monday,  July  7. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  We    reached   Washington 
Saturday  morning.     Mr.  Olmsted  transacted  his 


184  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

business,  and  we  started  on  our  return  Saturday 
afternoon,  bringing  with  us  a  cargo  of  tents  for 
the  army.  This  destroyed  our  blissful  visions 
of  a  bath  and  bed  at  Willard's. 

I  can't  tell  you  how  Washington  oppressed 
me.  Its  bitter  tone  towards  McClellan  fell 
strangely  on  our  ears,  which  yet  rang  with  the 
cheers  of  the  army.  We  met  Commodore 
Wilkes,  who  told  us  he  had  that  moment  re 
ceived  his  appointment  to  the  naval  command 
on  the  James  River. 

On  my  return  here  to-day  I  find  your  letters, 
Nos.  16  and  17 ;  also  one  from  the  Mayor  of 
Newport,  telling  me  of  the  munificent  gift  of 
the  churches,  and  asking  how  I  should  like  to 
have  it  spent.  I  have  replied,  asking  him  to 
send  half  in  supplies  to  us  here,  and  half  in 
money  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Sanitary  Com 
mission.  How  well  Newport  has  done  her  part 
in  the  work  !  I  am  often  reminded  by  different 
branches  of  the  Commission  that  she  was  among 
the  very  first  to  send  supplies.  In  Washington 
I  heard  it  again.  Even  the  particular  character 
of  the  things  she  has  sent  has  been  praised  to 
me.  I  wish  you  would  let  the  community 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  185 

know  that  my  last  cases  by  the  "  Webster  "  ar 
rived  the  night  before  we  left  White  House. 
The  Medical  Director  telegraphed  Mr.  Olmsted 
to  send  supplies  for  the  wounded  to  Savage's  Sta 
tion.  The  "  Elizabeth  "  had  been  seized  to  tow 
something;  but  our  other  boats  had  plenty  of 
everything  except  brandy,  so  I  was  delighted 
to  have  the  cases  to  send.  They  went  on  the 
last  train  that  got  through,  together  with  the 
cases  marked  u  Miscellaneous."  Please  let  my 
generous  friends  know  that  coming  when  they 
did,  their  gifts  were  doubly  blessed.  Oh !  if 
they  could  but  form  an  idea  of  what  those 
things  were  to  those  poor  wounded,  cut  off  from 
getting  down  to  our  care,  and  lying  parched 
and  agonized  and  necessarily  abandoned  by  the 
army.  The  same  day  (the  day  before  we  left 
White  House)  I  received  a  most  kind  letter  from 
Colonel  Yinton,  calling  my  attention  to  his  ad 
vertisement  for  bids,  and  offering  me  another 
contract.  I  answered  gratefully,  making  pro 
posals  for  one  if  I  could  begin  it  in  September. 
The  letter  came,  as  usual,  to  Colonel  Ingalls' 
care ;  and  its  official  appearance,  on  business 
of  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  must  have 


186  THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR. 

created  some  curiosity,  for  it  was  sent  up  in 
hot  haste  by  special  messenger.1 

I  had  the  dearest  letter  from  A.  to-day.  She 
says,  "  Can  such  things  interest  you  ?"  Why, 
nothing  interests  me  so  much.  I  shall  come 
back  sick  of  great  events  and  armies.  I  want 
never  to  see  a  blue-coat  or  a  gun  or  an  ambu 
lance  again.  I  am  glad  my  letter  from  Fortress 
Monroe  reached  you.  To  have  you  say  that 
you  get  clear  ideas  from  my  letters,  astonishes 
me.  I  write  them  as  one  in  a  dream. 

We  have  come  back  to  find  that  the  army, 
which  we  left  massed  just  here,  has  got  into 
position,  and  is  intrenched  or  intrenching. 
General  headquarters  is  moved  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  inland.  General  McClellan  says 

1  This,  with  the  allusion  on  page  1,  refers  to  a  contract  for 
the  making  of  flannel  army-shirts,  given  me  by  Deputy  Quar 
termaster-General  D.  H.  Vinton,  U.  S.  A.,  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  employment  to  the  families  of  volunteers  and  other  poor 
women.  During  the  winter  of  1861-62  we  made  over  seventy 
thousand.  The  Department  paid  me  fourteen  cents  a  shirt,  and 
furnished  the  flannel  and  the  buttons.  I  paid  the  women  eleven 
cents  a  shirt  (they  could  easily  make  four  a  day,  without  a  ma 
chine),  and  the  remaining  three  cents  just  covered  the  cost  of 
linen-thread,  transportation  to  and  from  New  York,  office  and 
workroom  expenses.  The  ladies  of  Newport  helped  me  to  cut  the 
shirts. 


THE  OTHER   SIDE  OF  WAR.  187 

positively  that  he  can  hold  the  position.  The 
wounded  are  all  in,  and  either  shipped  or  cared 
for  on  shore.  When  I  say  "  all/'  I  mean  those 
within  our  lines  ;  the  most  severely  wounded  we 
shall  never  see.  Forty  of  our  surgeons  are  with 
them,  scattered  along  the  line  of  march ;  they 
are  prisoners  by  this  time.  This  is  the  worst 
horror  of  war,  and  one  I  cannot  trust  myself 
to  think  of.  The  Medical  Department  is  doing 
well  by  the  sick  and  wounded  who  have  reached 
this  Landing.  Four  thousand  have  been  already 
transported  on  their  boats  and  ours,  which  come 
and  go  with  their  usual  regularity.  The  gentle 
men  of  the  Commission  are  busily  at  work  issu 
ing  stores,  and  fitting  out  and  sending  off  the 
vessels ;  but  it  is  evident  that  our  work  (I 
mean  that  of  the  women  at  these  Commission 
headquarters)  is  over.  I  feel  this  so  much  that 
I  begged  Mr.  Olmsted  to  let  me  take  the  mail- 
boat  as  we  passed  Fortress  Monroe  last  night. 
But  he  was  unwilling  ;  and  in  little  things  as 
well  as  in  great  things  no  one  opposes  his  will. 

We  look  and  hope  and  pray  for  reinforce 
ments.  Immediate  levies  should  be  made,  the 
recruits  used  in  garrisons,  and  the  older  troops 


188  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

sent  here.  The  whole  question  is,  Are  we  in 
earnest  ?  Is  the  nation  in  earnest  ?  or  is  it  the 
victim  of  a  political  game  ?  For  God's  sake, 
for  the  sake  of  humanity,  let  us  strike  one 
mighty  blow  now,  and  end  this  rebellion ! 
Surely  it  cannot  be  that  the  nation  can't  do 
this!  Then  let  it  be  done;  and  oh!  do  not 
sacrifice  this  noble  army.  Let  every  man  take 
arms  that  can  take  them,  and  fill  the  places  of 
tried  men  who  could  come  here.  At  this  mo 
ment  "  a  strong  pull  and  a  pull  altogether " 
would  end  this  rebellion,  and  send  its  wretched 
leaders  to  their  just  destruction.  This  is  not 
my  opinion  only,  it  is  the  sum  of  all  I  hear. 

The  weather  is  intensely  hot.  My  hand 
wets  and  sticks  to  the  paper  as  I  write.  The 
thermometer  at  the  door  of  my  stateroom  is 
98.°  We  cannot  put  our  faces  out  upon  deck 
without  blistering  them  in  the  fierce  glare  of 
sky  and  water.  How  I  wish  Ralph  could  see 
the  great  balloon  which  is  just  going  up  from 
headquarters  1 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  189 

"  WILSON  SMALL,"  July  8. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  —  For  the  last  two  hours  I 
have  been  watching  President  Lincoln  and  Gen 
eral  McClellan  as  they  sat  together,  in  earnest 
conversation,  on  the  deck  of  a  steamer  close  to 
us.  I  am  thankful,  I  am  happy,  that  the 
President  has  come,  —  has  sprung  across  that 
dreadful  intervening  Washington,  and  come  to 
see  and  hear  and  judge  for  his  own  wise  and 
noble  self. 

While  we  were  at  dinner  some  one  said, 
chancing  to  look  through  a  window  :  "  Why, 
there  's  the  President !  "  and  he  proved  to  be 
just  arriving  on  the  "  Ariel,"  at  the  end  of  the 
wharf  close  to  which  we  are  anchored.  I  sta 
tioned  myself  at  once  to  watch  for  the  coming 
of  McClellan.  The  President  stood  on  deck 
with  a  glass,  with  which,  after  a  time,  he  in 
spected  our  boat,  waving  his  handkerchief  to  us. 
My  eyes  and  soul  were  in  the  direction  of  gen 
eral  headquarters,  over  where  the  great  balloon 
was  slowly  descending.  Presently  a  line  of 
horsemen  came  over  the  brow  of  the  hill 
through  the  trees,  and  first  emerged  a  firm-set 
figure  on  a  brown  horse,  and  after  him  the 


190  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

staff  and  body-guard.  As  soon  as  the  General 
reached  the  head  of  the  wharf  he  sprang  from 
his  horse,  and  in  an  instant  every  man  was  a- 
foot  and  motionless.  McClellan  walked  quickly 
along  the  thousand-foot  pier,  a  major-general 
beside  him,  and  six  officers  following.  He  was 
the  shortest  man,  of  course,  by  which  I  distin 
guished  him  as  the  little  group  stepped  on  to 
the  pier.  When  he  reached  the  "  Ariel  '*  he 
ran  quickly  up  to  the  after-deck,  where  the 
President  met  him  and  grasped  his  hand.  I 
could  not  distinguish  the  play  of  his  features, 
though  my  eyes  still  ache  with  the  effort  to  do 
so.  He  is  stouter  than  I  expected,  but  quicker, 
and  more  leste.  He  wore  the  ordinary  blue 
coat  and  shoulder-straps ;  the  coat,  fastened 
only  at  the  throat,  and  blowing  back  as  he 
walked,  gave  to  sight  a  gray  flannel  shirt  and 
a  —  suspender ! 

They  sat  down  together,  apparently  with 
a  map  between  them,  to  which  McClellan 
pointed  from  time  to  time  with  the  end  of  his 
cigar.  We  watched  the  earnest  conversation 
which  went  on,  and  which  lasted  till  6  p.  M.  ; 
then  they  rose  and  walked  side  by  side  ashore, — 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  191 

the  President,  in  a  shiny  black  coat  and  stove 
pipe  hat,  a  whole  head  and  shoulders  taller,  as 
it  seemed  to  me,  than  the  General.  Mr.  Lin 
coln  mounted  a  led  horse  of  the  General's,  and 
together  they  rode  off,  the  staff  following,  the 
dragoons  presenting  arms  and  then  wheeling 
round  to  follow,  their  sabres  gleaming  in  the 
sunlight.  And  so  they  have  passed  over  the 
brow  of  the  hill,  and  I  have  come  to  tell  you 
about  it.  The  cannon  are  firing  salutes,  —  a 
sound  of  strange  peacefulness  to  us,  after  the 
angry,  irregular  boomings  and  the  sharp  scream 
of  the  shells  to  which  we  are  accustomed. 

All  day  we  have  had  the  little  "  Monitor " 
and  the  ugly  "  Galena "  (flag-ship)  and  the 
"  Maritanza "  beside  us,  a  stone's  throw  off. 
Last  evening  Commodore  John  Kodgers,  at 
present  commanding  on  the  James,  came  to  see 
us,  and  rowed  us  up  the  river  and  round  the 
"  Monitor  "  and  his  own  vessel,  the  "  Galena." 
Ugly  as  she  is,  I  must  confess  the  latter  has  the 
most  fighting  look  of  anything  that  I  have  seen 
connected  with  war ;  she  reminds  me  of  Rab 
in  a  dog-fight.  But  they  say  she  is  a  failure, 
and  a  downright  fraud  upon  the  Government. 


192  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

She  looks  something  like  a  Chinese  junk,  broad 
at  the  water-line,  and  running  in  from  that. 
She  has  two  large  lumps  on  one  side,  caused  by 
shots  that  have  passed  through  her  and  lodged 
in  the  iron  casing  on  the  other  side. 

There  is  a  funny  little  Rebel  gunboat  close 
beside  us,  captured  on  Friday  by  the  "  Mari- 
tanza."  A  shell  exploded  in  her  boiler,  tearing 
out  her  intestines,  as  it  were,  and  doubling  her 
up  into  the  drollest  little  object.  The  "Teaser" 
they  call  her.  The  prettiest  sight  I  see  is  the 
signalling,  —  flags  by  day,  and  lamps  by  night ; 
the  most  incomprehensible,  graceful  thing  that 
can  be  seen.  The  "  Galena,"  the  "  Monitor," 
and  the  "  Maritanza,"  which  went  off  this 
morning  to  prevent  General  Longstreet  with 
twenty  thousand  men  from  attempting  to  cross 
the  river,  are  just  coming  in  to  their  evening 
anchorage,  and  beginning  the  pretty  signals, 
which  are  being  answered  from  the  roof  of  the 
Harrison  House. 

Things  are  not  as  gloomy  here  as  you  fear. 
The  tone  and  temper  of  the  army  are  magnifi 
cent.  If  reinforcements  are  sent,  all  will  be 
well.  Everything  depends  on  the  Administra- 


V  I 


THE  OTHER   SIDE   OF  WAR.  193 

tion  at  this  moment,  —  not  on  the  army ;  that 
is  now  made  up  of  veterans,  and  knows  and 
rejoices  in  its  strength. 

Commodore  Rodgers  has  just  been  to  invite 
us  on  board  his  ship.  We  have  accepted  for 
nine  o'clock  to-morrow  morning,  though  it  is 
a  chance  if  she  is  not  on  duty  at  that  and  every 
other  hour.  He  offered  also  to  take  us  over 
the  "  Monitor."  After  that  —  having  seen  the 
u  Monitor  "  and  McClellan  —  I  wish  to  go  home. 
There  is  no  more  work  for  a  woman  here.  The 
Government  is  doing  well  by  the  sick  and 
wounded.  The  Sanitary  Commission  may  justly 
claim  that  it  has  led  the  Government  to  this  ; 
and  it  can  now  return  to  its  legitimate  sup 
plemental  work,  —  inspecting  the  condition  of 
the  camps  and  regiments,  and  continuing  on  a 
large  scale  its  supply  business.  But  as  for  us, 
we  ought  to  go  ;  to  stay  here  doing  nothing, 
is  a  sarcasm  on  the  work  we  have  already 
done. 

"  WILSON  SMALL,"  July  10. 

DEAR  A.,  —  This  morning  I  went  ashore  with 
Mrs.  Barlow  (Arabella,  wife  of  the  General) 
without  orders  and,  indeed,  without  permission. 

13 


194  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

But  Mrs.  Barlow  offered  to  take  me,  Mr.  Olm- 
sted  was  not  on  board,  and  I  was  so  anxious  to 
see  for  myself  the  state  of  things  that  I  could 
not  forego  the  chance.  The  hospital  occupies  the 
Harrison  House,  called  Berkley  (how  familiar  all 
those  names  are  to  you  and  me !),  and  a  barn, 
out-buildings,  and  several  tents  at  the  rear,  con 
taining,  or  I  should  say  able  to  contain,  in  all, 
about  twelve  hundred  men,  —  perhaps  more,  at 
a  pinch.  About  a  third  of  those  now  in  hospital 
will  be  fit  for  duty  after  a  week  or  two  of  rest. 

The  influence  of  the  new  Medical  Director  is 
already  manifest.  It  would  be  too  much  to  say 
that  all  the  wants  of  the  sick  and  wounded  are 
met  as  they  would  be  on  our  own  boats,  where 
the  men  are  as  well  cared  for  as  in  a  city  hos 
pital,  —  it  would  be  absurd  to  expect  as  much  as 
that  in  a  temporary  hospital  hastily  arranged, 
and  especially  after  such  an  exhausting  march 
as  the  army  has  just  made ;  but  I  am  quite 
satisfied  that  the  men  have  every  essential 
care ;  the  situation  is  the  healthiest  to  be  found 
about  here,  there  are  surgeons  enough,  and 
an  excellent  hospital-steward,  with  properly 
appointed  ward-masters  and  nurses.  I  told 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  195 

the  hospital-steward  how  much  we  depended  on 
beef-stock  and  milk-punch,  because  they  are  so 
quickly  and  easily  prepared  ;  and  I  promised  to 
send  him  (I  felt  as  if  I  were  making  a  will) 
my  spirit-lamp  and  kettles,  and  to  get  our  com 
missary  to  give  him  an  ample  supply  of  Murin- 
ger's  beef-extract,  and  condensed  milk.  I  have 
just  filled  two  pillow-cases  for  him  with  all  the 
odds  and  ends  that  remain  to  me,  —  fans,  pads, 
handkerchiefs,  towels,  bay-rum,  cologne,  band 
ages,  flannel,  pins,  needles,  tapes,  buttons,  paper 
and  pens,  etc.,  and  my  precious  lamp,  with  all 
its  adjuncts. 

We  stayed  about  three  hours  with  the  men, 
writing  letters  for  them.  Such  letters  are  often 
very  funny.  Some  few  told  the  horrors  of  the 
march ;  but  as  a  rule  they  were  all  about  the 
families  at  home.  Did  you  ever  notice  how 
people  of  limited  education  seem  unable  to  re 
late  anything  that  is  happening  about  them  ? 
They  go  over  a  string  of  family  details  quite 
as  well  known  to  their  correspondent  as  to 
themselves. 

I  am  glad  I  went  ashore,  for  now  I  am  quite 
content  to  go  home.  Our  work  —  I  mean  the 


196 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 


women's  work  —  is  over,  except  on  the  "  Web 
ster  "  and  the  "  Spaulding,"  which  must  still 
make  two  or  three  trips  in  the  service  of  the 
Commission.  All  that  now  remains  to  be  done 
for  the  army  on  the  James  is  the  regular  work 
of  inspecting  camps  and  issuing  from  the  store- 
boats  such  supplies  as  may  be  needed.1 

I  did  not  go   on   board   the  "Monitor"   on 
Wednesday,  after  all.     The  others  went,  but  I 

1  Supplies  furnished  by  the  Sanitary  Commission  to  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  from  July  1st  to  August  3lst,  1862. 


HOSPITAL 
FURNITURE. 

PERSONAL 
CLOTHING. 

HOSPITAL  DELICACIES. 

Quilts.  .  .  .  30,197 
Blankets    .  .  13500 

Shirts  ....  87,994 
Drawers    .  .  48  303 

Condens'd  milk,  cans  2,624 
Jelly  jars  6  959 

Sheets              42  945 

Socks  ....  80  322 

Tea  Ibs  541 

Pillows    .  .  .  35,877 
Pillow-cases    49,096 
Pillow-ticks  .    2,269 
Bed-ticks   .  .  11,716 
Rubber  cloth 
Crutches 

Slippers.  .  .  14,984 
Handk'rch'fs  43,606 
Towels  .  .  .  65,164 
Wrappers.  .  10,235 
Flannel  bands  3,684 
Oiled  silk 

Spirits,  bottles  .  .  .  1,026 
Wine,  dom.  gals.  .  .  570 
Wines,  foreign,  gals.  450 
Vinegar,  bottles  .  .  692 
Syrups,  bottles  .  .  .  1,435 
Beef-stock,  liquid,  Ibs.  634 
Beef-stock,  solid,  Ibs.  1,052 
Farinaceous  food,  "  12,268 

On  Mr.  Olmsted's  return  from  Harrison's  Landing  he  sent 
down,  as  the  most  pressing  need  of  the  army  (the  shadow  of 
scurvy  was  hanging  over  it)  a  vessel  freighted  with  vegetables. 
A  cargo  of  ice  had  preceded  it.  These  vegetables  proved  of  in 
valuable  service,  and  were  distributed  to  all  the  regiments  at 
Harrison's  Landing. 


THE   OTHER  SIDE   OF   WAR.  197 

had  fallen  into  a  weary  and  disconsolate  con 
dition,  in  which  the  effort  seemed  too  great. 
Commodore  Kodgers  had  tried  to  keep  the 
President,  who  paid  him  an  early  visit,  long 
enough  to  meet  us ;  but  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "No, 
he  had  promised  to  be  with  Georgy  at  nine 
o'clock,  and  Georgy  must  not  be  kept  waiting." 
I  liked  the  story;  it  seemed  to  picture  such 
happy  relations  between  the  President  and  the 

General. 

"  WILSON  SMALL,"  July  12. 

DEAR  MOTHER, — I  wrote  this  morning  by 
Dr.  Ware,  who  left  us  on  the  mail-boat,  that 
I  should  start  for  home  to-morrow  morning. 
Meantime  our  plans  are  changed.  A  flag-of- 
truce  came  down  to-day  to  the  "  Maritanza," 
requesting  us  to  go  up  and  get  our  wounded 
who  were  left  along  the  line  of  march,  —  four 
thousand  of  them,  it  is  said.  So  the  whole  hos 
pital  fleet  is  to  run  five  miles  up  the  river, 
under  convoy  of  the  gunboats,  to  Haxall's  or 
Carter's  Landing.  We  are  all  ready,  and  wait 
ing  the  order  to  start.1 

1  The  enemy  sent  down  only  four  hundred  men,  keeping 
the  rest  as  prisoners.  The  former  were  shipped  on  board  the 
"Spaulding"  and  another  vessel. 


198  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

Captain  Sawtelle  paid  us  a  visit  to-day,  —  the 
first  for  a  week.  He  is  promoted  to  Colonel 
Ingalls's  position ;  Colonel  Ingalls  to  that  of 
General  Van  Vliet ;  while  the  General  is  on 
his  way  to  Washington  for  unknown  honors,  — 
all  this  in  just  acknowledgment,  I  suppose, 
of  their  admirable  management  at  White  House. 
Captain  Sawtelle  thinks  our  losses  have  been 
greatly  over-estimated,  as  a  very  large  number 
of  stragglers  have  come  in  this  week.  He 
places  the  number  of  killed,  wounded,  and  miss; 
ing  at  twelve  thousand.  The  artillery  corps  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty-six  guns  lost  one  hun 
dred  and  forty-three  men,  —  not  a  man  to  each 
gun.  He  told  us  that  almost  the  last  thing  he 
did  at  White  House  was  to  order  the  engines 
upon  the  railroad  to  be  run,  with  all  the  cars, 
to  the  end  of  the  track  and  precipitated  into 
the  river.  Just  as  the  order  was  being  executed, 
the  train  almost  in  motion,  he  recollected  that 
a  gunboat  had  gone  up  beyond  the  bridge, 
and  that  the  train  would  block  the  river.  He 
then  ordered  the  cars  and  the  engines  to  be 
piled  up  and  fired,  which,  together  with  the 
White  House,  made  the  great  blaze  which  we 


THE   OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR.  199 

saw ;  the  White  House  was  fired  by  a  drunken 
soldier. 

I  never  felt  the  slightest  desire  to  witness  a 
battle  until  I  listened  to  the  accounts  they  all 
give  of  the  battle  of  Malvern  Hill,  where  our 
whole  artillery  was  massed  on  the  hill-side  and 
hurled  back  a  column  of  thirty  thousand  men 
as  it  debouched  with  three  heads.  I  listened 
to  the  guns ;  and  even  where  we  were  it  was  a 
mighty  thunder. 

I  have  had  one  pleasant  day,  or  part  of  a 
day.  I  was  sitting  alone,  the  rest  were  out 
rowing  on  the  river,  when  I  heard  the  regular 
beat  of  man-of-war's  oars,  and  presently  a  trig 
captain's  gig  came  alongside,  and  Captain  George 
Eodgers,  of  the  "  Tioga,"  ran  upstairs.1  I  was 
delighted  ;  it  is  really  so  much  to  see  an  old 
friend  here.  He  urged  me  to  go  on  board  the 
"  Tioga,"  and  promised  to  take  me  first  to  the 

1  Captain  Rodgers  was  killed  in  the  turret  of  the  moni 
tor  "  Catskill,"  which  he  commanded  before  Charleston,  S.C., 
in  1863.  He  was  passing  a  U.  S.  A.  General  Hospital  where  I 
was  stationed,  the  day  after  he  received  his  appointment  to  her. 
He  landed,  and  ran  up  to  my  quarters  to  tell  me  of  it.  I  con 
gratulated  him.  "  Yes,"  he  said,  "  I  am  appointed  to  my  coffin," 
—  alluding  to  the  build  of  the  vessel. 


200  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

u  Monitor/'  and  then  down  the  river  to  shell 
out  a  battery  which  was  troublesome.  I  forgot 
I  was  tired  and  ill ;  I  felt  a  momentary  pang 
at  my  dirty  dress  :  but  I  put  on  a  clean  white 
apron,  and  went  off  with  alacrity.  Things  did 
not  turn  out  quite  favorably.  When  we  reached 
the  "  Monitor  "  the  men  were  bathing,  and  we 
had  to  give  up  our  visit.  And  we  had  scarcely 
reached  the  lovely  "  Tioga,"  when  a  clumsy 
brig  got  foul  of  her,  tearing  away  part  of  her 
paddle-box ;  and  we  did  not  get  free  till  half- 
past  ten  at  night,  when  there  was  nothing  for 
me  to  do  but  go  back  at  once  to  the  "  Small/* 

The  "  Tioga  "  is  a  picture,  —  just  out  of  dock, 
lovely  in  model,  and  brilliant  in  paint  and 
brass.  She  carries  eight  guns,  —  one  a  ten-inch 
Dahlgren,  the  other  a  ten-inch  rifled  Parrott. 
Captain  Rodgers  gave  me  a  piece  of  the  only 
Confederate  balloon  (captured  on  the  "  Teaser  "), 
made  of  ladies7  silk  dresses  of  every  pattern  and 
color.  The  piece  I  have  is  partly  a  brown 
stripe,  and  partly  a  green  chine. 

The  other  day  as  wre  came  up  the  river,  re 
turning  from  Washington,  we  were  ordered  by 
the  gunboat  on  guard  to  go  single  file  past  some 


THE  OTHER   SIDE  OF  WAR.  201 

wooded  bluffs.  The  "Juniata"  was  ahead  of 
us,  when  a  shot  went  through  her  pilot-house 
and  hit  the  bell-wire,  making  the  signal  to  stop. 
The  engineer  obeyed  it  and  stopped  the  boat, 
when  a  second  shot  fell  between  us,  —  otherwise 
the  "  Small "  might  have  caught  it.  Captain 
Rodgers  told  me  he  was  convoying  us,  and  had 
just  left  us,  as  he  thought,  beyond  all  danger 
from  Fort  Powhatan,  when  the  shots  were  fired. 
He  ran  up  immediately;  but  before  he  could 
get  a  gun  sighted,  the  fellows  had  limbered  up, 
and  were  off.  It  was  a  light  four-gun  battery. 
These  batteries  give  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  but, 
so  far,  have  done  very  little  damage.  The  men 
make  breast-works  of  felled  trees  behind  other 
trees  which  conceal  them.  Our  gunboats  keep 
up  a  constant  straggling  fire  into  the  woods  to 
prevent  the  enemy  from  settling  in  one  spot. 
It  was  to  dislodge  one  of  these  batteries,  which 
seemed  to  have  taken  up  a  position  near  Fort 
Powhatan,  that  the  "  Tioga  "  was  ordered  down 
the  river,  when,  unfortunately,  she  collided  with 
the  brig. 


202  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF   WAR. 

NEWPORT,  R.  I.,  July  25. 

DEAR  FRIEND,  —  I  have  slept  in  my  own 
bed  !  or,  rather,  I  did  not  sleep,  —  I  lay  awake 
thinking  of  a  poor  Southern  fellow  who  said  to 
me  one  morning  :  "  I  could  n't  sleep,  ma'am, 
for  thinking  how  comfortable  I  was  !  " 

We  left  Harrison's  Landing  on  Thursday  in 
the  "Daniel  Webster/'  with  two  hundred  and 
thirty  sick  on  board.  At  Fortress  Monroe  Mrs. 
Griffin  came  off  from  the  "Euterpe  " 1  to  ask 
me  to  take  her  cousin,  a  captain  in  the  regular 
army,  to  his  friends  in  Newport.  We  had  some 
difficulty  in  getting  him  on  board,  for  the  sea 
was  running  very  high  at  midnight,  when  Mr. 
Olmstedput  the  "Webster"  as  close  to  the  "Eu 
terpe  "as  he  dared.  The  captain  had  typhoid 
fever,  with  a  good  deal  of  low  delirium ;  but  he 
did  very  well  during  the  voyage,  having  a  com 
fortable  berth  on  deck  under  cover.  When  we 
reached  New  York  I  took  him  over  to  the  New 
port  boat  in  an  ambulance,  hunted  up  Captain 
Brown,  and  made  him  establish  my  patient  on 

1  Sister-ship  to  the  "  St.  Mark."  She  was  used  as  a  receiving, 
hospital  in  Hampton  Roads.  Mrs.  Griffin  took  charge  of  the 
women's  department  on  her  for  several  weeks. 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF   WAR.  203 

his  stretcher  in  the  airiest  part  of  the  boat.  It 
was  rich  to  see  the  state  of  fuss  into  which  that 
worthy  man  was  thrown,  and  to  hear  him  ex 
hort  me  to  "  keep  calm  "  !  As  soon  as  I  could,  I 
went  below,  and  made  the  stewardess  give  me 
oceans  of  warm  water,  out  of  which  I  emerged 
a  new  creature.  When  I  went  back  to  my 
captain  I  found  a  lady  sitting  by  him,  —  his 
mother,  who  happened  to  be  going  to  Newport 
on  that  boat !  So  I  gave  up  my  last  patient 
into  better  hands,  —  though  at  night,  when  I 
found  him  moved  out  of  the  fresh  air,  so  essen 
tial  to  him,  into  the  close  cabin,  I  wished  I  had 
held  command  over  him  till  we  landed,  and 
sighed  over  the  follies  of  private  nursing. 

I  met  several  friends  on  board.  Mr.  Tweedy 
gave  me  his  stateroom,  and  Mr.  Edward  King 
took  me  down  to  supper,  —  an  excursion  I  never 
made  in  my  civilized  existence ;  but  now  (think 
of  it !)  the  lights,  the  flowers,  the  feast,  seemed 
to  me  delicious  and  magnificent, —  an  Arabian 
Nights'  entertainment !  No  one  will  accuse  us 
of  having  "  eaten  up  the  gifts  of  the  people  " 
on  board  the  "  Small."  If  they  do,  I  shall  make 
Dr.  Bigelow  give  us  a  testimonial  about  it.  He 


204  THE  OTHER  SIDE   OF  WAR. 

owes  it  to  us  in  return  for  all  the  grumbling 
which  he  did  over  our  bad  food.  The  last  I 
saw  of  him  was  at  the  best  restaurant  in  Wash 
ington,  where  we  left  him  on  the  5th  of  July ; 
but  he  tells  me  in  a  subsequent  letter  that  he 
went  to  see  Dr.  Bellows,  President  of  the  Sani 
tary  Commission,  and  that,  owing  to  his  strong 
representations  of  the  horrors  on  board  the  "  Wil 
son  Small,"  "a  cook,  a  cooking-stove,  and  some 
thing  to  eat  "  were  to  be  sent  down  at  once.  "I 
told  him,"  he  adds,  "that  in  all  probability  no 
one  on  board  that  boat  would  live  to  get  home  ; 
but  that  a  few  puddings,  if  administered  immedi 
ately,  might  save  one  or  two  :  and  I  gave  him  six 
excellent  recipes."  Can't  you  imagine  them  ? 

The  Hospital  Transport  Service  is  ended. 
We  left  the  "Elizabeth"  well  supplied,  and 
moored  to  the  long  wharf  at  Harrison's  Landing, 
where  the  surgeons  and  chaplains  and  quarter 
masters  can  get  at  her  with  ease.  Dr.  Jenkins 
and  Dr.  Douglas  remain  to  superintend  the 
issue  of  stores  and  inspect  the  condition  of 
camps  and  regiments ;  but  the  transports  are 
given  back  to  the  Quartermaster's  Department : 
our  reign  is  over.  I  wonder  who  '11  succeed  to 


THE   OTHER   SIDE   OF  WAR.  205 

my  cabin  on  the  "Small,"  and  hang  his  clothes 
on  my  gimlets  (used  for  pegs),  and  inherit  my 
other  little  inventions  of  that  nature  ? 

Georgy  and  Mr.  Olmsted  and  I  sat  up  the 
greater  part  of  our  last  night  on  the  "  Web 
ster,"  talking  as  people  will  who  know  that  on 
the  morrow  they  are  to  separate  widely.  Did  I 
say  somewhere  that  Mr.  Olmsted  was  severe,  or 
something  of  that  kind  ?  Well,  I  am  glad  I 
said  it,  that  I  may  now  unsay  it.  Nothing 
could  be  more  untrue  ;  every  day  I  have  under 
stood  and  valued  and  trusted  him  more  and 
more.  This  expedition,  if  it  has  done  no  other 
good,  has  made  a  body  of  life-long  friends.  We 
have  a  period  to  look  back  upon  when  we 
worked  together  under  the  deepest  feelings, 
and  to  the  extent  of  our  powers,  shoulder  to 
shoulder,  helping  each  other  to  the  best  of  our 
ability,  no  one  failing  or  hindering  another. 
From  first  to  last  there  has  been  perfect  accord 
among  us  ;  and  I  can  never  look  back  to  these 
months  without  feeling  that  God  has  been  very 
good  to  let  me  share  in  them  and  see  human 
nature  under  such  aspects.  It  is  sad  to  feel 
that  it  is  all  over. 


206  THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR. 

The  first  thing  Mr.  Olmsted  did  on  arriving 
in  New  York  was  to  send  down  a  cargo  of  vege 
tables  to  check  the  scurvy,  that  enemy  having 
appeared  in  force.  Mother  was  greatly  amused 
by  my  reply  to  her  inquiry  :  "  What  shall  be 
done  with  that  last  hundred  dollars  ?  "  "  Oh, 
spend  it  in  onions  !  "  I  cried,  enthusiastically. 
The  last  I  saw  of  Mr.  Olmsted  he  was  disappear 
ing  down  the  side  of  the  "  Webster,"  clad  in  the 
garb  of  a  fashionable  gentleman.  I  rubbed  my 
eyes,  and  felt  then  that  it  was  indeed  all  over. 
I  myself  had  risen  to  the  occasion  by  putting 
on  a  black-lace  tablespoon  [such  were  the  bon 
nets  of  the  period],  in  which  I  became  at  once 
conventional  and  duly  civilized. 

We  are  not  yet  forgotten  on  the  James  ;  at 
least  I  am  assured  of  it  in  two  letters,  —  one 
from  the  Great  Mogul,  the  Medical  Inspector- 
General  ;  the  other  from  that  United  States  offi 
cer  who  did  more  than  any  other  to  make  our 
work  successful.  They  are  characteristic.  One 
writes  :  "  How  I  miss  the  dear  ladies  of  the 
6  Wilson  Small '  and  their  freshening  drinks,  — 
animal  that  I  am !  but  how  can  I  forget  that 
which  comforted  me  ?"  The  other  says  :  "  The 


THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  WAR.  207 

departure  of  the  '  Wilson  Small '  has  left  a  sad 
blank  in  these  waters.  It  always  had  a  hu 
manizing  effect  upon  me  to  go  on  board,  if  only 
for  a  moment.  I  trust  that  when  this  weary 
war  is  over  I  may  meet  the  friends  I  have  made 
here  under  happier  skies." 

There !  my  story  is  done.  A  short  three 
months  ago  I  wrote  to  tell  you  it  was  begin 
ning  ;  but  what  a  lifetime  lies  between  now  and 
then! 


INDEX. 


Agnew,  Dr.  C.  R.,  10,  159,  165. 
Army  of  the  Potomac,   12,    13, 
48,  57,  178,  179,  186,  187,  204. 

Balestier,  Mrs,  58,  99,  137;  177. 

Barclay.  Clement,  110. 

Barlow,  Arabella,  wife  of  General, 

193. 
Bellows,   Rev.    Henry  W,  D.D., 

7. 

Bellows,  Mrs.,  20. 
Bigelow,  Dr.  Henry  J.,  149,  203, 

204. 

Blatehford,  Mrs.,  17. 
Bletham,   Captain,    18,    84,    146, 

152. 

Bloor,  Alfred  J.,  12. 
Bradford,  Miss  Charlotte,  99, 137. 
Branches  of  Sanitary  Commission, 

6, 11,  12. 
Butler,  Miss,  31,  40. 

Change   of   Base,   166-172,    176, 

177. 

Clark,  Dr.  Henry  G.,  9. 
Curtis,  Gen.  N.  M.,  26,  28,  42. 

Death-rate,    British    Army,    Cri 
mea,  73. 

Devens,  General,  99. 
Dexter,  R  Gordon,  152. 
Douglas,  Dr.,  204. 
Draper,  Dr.,  and  Mrs.,  80,  83. 


Elliott,  E.  B.,  9. 

Fair  Oaks,  battle  of,  95-118,  132. 
Franklin,  General,  49,  50,  52. 

Gamble,  Mrs.  (see  Whetten). 
Gardiner,  Miss  Mary,  22. 
Gilson,  Miss  Helen,  37,  38. 
Green,  Dr.,  86. 
Griffin,  Mrs.  Win.  Preston,  15, 16, 

29,  40,  70,  71,  75,  94,  97,   105, 

151,  158,  202. 
Grymes,  Dr.,  17,  77,  146,  151,  152. 

Haight,  David,  33,  57,  82,  142. 
Harrison's  Landing,  James  River, 
175,  176,  194,  196,  204. 

Ingalls,  Colonel,  57,  100,  139, 169, 
170,  198. 

Jenkins,  Dr.  J.  Foster,  120,  142, 
204. 

Knapp,  Frederick  N.,  19,  22,  36. 

37,  57,  62,  64,  79,  101,  115,  120, 

127. 
Kuhn,  Mrs.  Charles,  152. 

Letterman,  Dr.,  Medical  Director, 

181,  183,  194. 
Lincoln,  President,  8.,  183,   189, 

197. 


14 


210 


INDEX. 


Malvern  Hill,  battle  of,  176,  199. 

McClellan,  General,  50,  52,  133, 
137,  177,  179,  186,  189,  190, 191. 

McDowell,  General,  30,  66,  68,  78. 

Members  of  U.  S.  Sanitary  Com 
mission,  10. 

Mitchell,  Edward,  141. 

Monitor,  The,  182,  183,  200. 

Morell,  General,  53. 

M.,  Mrs.,  and  sister,  31,  74,  96, 105, 
145. 

Newport,  Rhode  Island,  15, 16, 91, 
184,  185,  202. 

O'Connell,  T.  J.,  9. 

Olmsted,  Frederick  Law,  9,  10, 
13,  20,  22,  59,  60,  62,  63,  64, 
67,  101,  102,  115,  120,  128,  134, 
135,  142,  145,  147,  149,  150,  160, 
173,  205,  206. 


Pamunky  River,  Virginia,  30,  34, 

46,  47,  172,  173,  175. 
Parker,  Mrs.  Charles  Henry  (see 

Trotter). 
Porter,  General  Fitz-John,  34,  53, 

168,  170. 

Ration  of  U.  S.  Soldier,  124,  136. 

Reading,  Mrs.,  85. 

Rodgers,  Commodore  John,  191, 

193. 
Rodgers,    Captain    George,    and 

"  Tioga,"  199,  200,  201. 

Sanitary  Commission,  6,  8,  13, 
89,  100,  109,  117,  122,  150,  161, 
172. 


Sawtelle,  Captain  (now  General), 
68,  78,  100,  102,  106,  141,  163, 
168,  169,  170,  198,  206,  207. 

Sebago,  Capt.  Murray,  68,  69, 
106. 

Shaw,  Mrs.  J.  Rowland,  152. 

Stocker,  Dr.  A.  A.,  86. 

Strong,  George  T.,  10. 

Strong,  Mrs.  George  T.,  22,  28, 
29,  67. 

Stuart's  Raid,  138-141. 

Supplies ;  money,  etc.,  10,  91, 122, 
123,  196. 

Trobriand,  M.  de,  130. 
Trotter,  Mrs.,  17,  152,  183. 

Van  Alen,  General,  174. 

Van  Vliet,  General,  68,  82,  88, 
162,  163,  198. 

Vinton,  Gen.  D.  H.,  185,  186. 

Vollum,  Colonel,  Medical  Inspec 
tor-General,  160,  206. 

Ware,  Robert,  32,  33,  62,  82,  107, 
115,  145,173. 

Wheelock,  George,  33,  57. 

Whetten,  Miss  Harriet  Douglas, 
22,  29,  58,  67,  80,  106,  177. 

White  House,  Pamunky  River, 
50,  51,  52,  171. 

Williams,  Gen.  Seth,  50,  51,  54. 

Women's  Central  Relief  Associa 
tion,  6,  7,  94. 

Women's  part  in  the  War,  6,  7 
8. 

Woolsey,  Charles,  33,  59. 

Yorktown,  Va.,  14,  23,  24,  157. 


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